JUDGE THROWS OUT BAN ON ONLINE AMMO SALES

Gun rights supporters won a major legal victory last week when a California judge struck down as unconstitutional a law that they say would have effectively banned online sales of handgun ammunition just days before it was to have taken effect.

Given the sheer size of the California market, the law would have had a major impact on national online ammunition sales, and some online ammo sites had already suspended sales to California.

While gun rights advocates cheered the decision, which came amid heightened focus on gun control issues in the wake of the Arizona shooting spree, supporters of the law say ammo sales are dangerously unregulated. And they say they have evidence that millions of rounds of ammunition are illegally sold to convicted felons every year.

The California Handgun Ammunition Registration Bill was signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in October 2009 and would have taken effect on Feb. 1. The law would have required that all ammunition sales in California involve a face-to-face transaction and fingerprint registration of the purchasers. Gun owners who wished to use online sites or catalogs would have been forced to have their ammunition shipped to a local gun dealer so the transaction could be performed in person, a requirement that opponents say would have effectively ended online sales.

Dealers who failed to obtain fingerprints during a purchase would have been guilty of a misdemeanor crime. While the law would have applied only to handgun ammunition, dealers said it would have effectively ended all online ammo sales in California, as rounds that can be used in handguns can often be used in rifles.

Fresno County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Hamilton struck down the law Tuesday, saying the definition of handgun ammunition used in the legislation was so vague as to be unconstitutional.  California's Attorney General Kamela Harris said she might appeal the ruling.

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