Beginning next year in California, gun shops will be required to keep logs of ammunition sales. Gun rights groups have long fought laws on ammunition saying it is a way around the second amendment. But as Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan reminded some 25 years ago, “guns don’t kill people, bullets do.” California already has more anti-gun laws than most states and now it is going after ammunition. For people like me who do believe guns need to be restricted in order to save lives and life altering injuries, such laws are welcomed. But what is even more welcome is the impact it looks it will have on 3D printed guns. True there are those who are working on 3D printed bullets, but that is way off in the future. Right now the plastic bullets from 3D won’t do much. But what is relevant for now is that 3D printed guns may not be as easy to use as some may say, and when they fire real bullets they may injure the shooter or break down right after it. Still harm with them is still possible and even more so in the future. That is because for now 3D printed guns are still rudimentary but those in the know say not for long. That is why laws regulating ammunition acquire even more importance.
Regulating ammo may sound like a simple solution yet one that is powerful beyond its simplicity. It’s a hopeful idea, an idea with a future if other states adopt it. Let’s work to ensure its potential.