There is a language in AB 962 which I believe will kill all sales of ammunition to those under 21 years old. It reads as follows:
12346. (a)
- (1) Any person, corporation, or dealer who does any of the following shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for a term not to exceed six months, or by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both the imprisonment and fine:
- (A) Sells any ammunition or reloaded ammunition to a person under 18 years of age.
- (B) Sells any ammunition or reloaded ammunition designed and intended for use in a handgun to a person under 21 years of age. As used in this subparagraph, "ammunition" means handgun ammunition as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 12323. Where ammunition or reloaded ammunition may be used in both a rifle and a handgun, it may be sold to a person who is at least 18 years of age, but less than 21 years of age, if the vendor reasonably believes that the ammunition is being acquired for use in a rifle and not a handgun.
- (C) Supplies, delivers, or gives possession of any ammunition to any minor who he or she knows, or using reasonable care should know, is prohibited from possessing that ammunition at that time pursuant to Section 12101.
The part that will be frightening to places like Walmart and Big5 is in italics. This language puts a burden on the vendor to "reasonably believe" that the person purchasing a box of .22 ammunition is going to be using that ammunition in a long-gun and not a handgun in order for the sale to be legal. If the purchaser of of that ammunition is found by authorities to be using ammunition he purchased in a pistol then that could create a problem for the retailer.
These are the types of "problems" that retailers in this state are looking to avoid. Firearm and ammunition retailers are already under tremendous scrutiny by the state and, in many cases, the local municipal and county governments in which they reside. Language like this will, at the very least, force ammunition retailers to require younger customers to sign some sort of waver saying that the customer intends to only use the rifle ammunition they are purchasing in a long-gun. This waver is another piece of paper that that the retailer will have to maintain along with all the other documentation that AB 962 requires. It is also another potential point of failure for retailers who already have a hard time training minimum-wage staff to do all the book keeping tasks firearm and ammunition sales require.
I also believe that this type of language in AB 962 will cause an increase in retailer's insurance premiums as by offering ammunition for sale they are greatly increasing their exposure to punitive measures by the state. How long will it be before insurance actuaries throw AB 962 into the equation when forecasting future losses? I don't think it will take them long. A couple of huge payouts by insurance companies in this state for AB 962 related sales may make getting insurance for your business extremely expensive.
Like many I think the goal of AB 962 is to make non-LEO ammunition sales in California so difficult that law-abiding residents simply stop buying it. If retailers are forced to stop selling ammunition or increase it's prices to astronomical levels to offset their expenses, and Internet sales are no longer an option the government will have accomplished it's goal.