Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg on Monday continued his lead role in advancing gun control legislation in the wake of the Aurora, Colo. mass shooting by introducing a bill to ban the online sale of ammunition.
"If someone wants to purchase deadly ammunition, they should have to come face-to-face with the seller," Lautenberg stated in his announcement. "It's one thing to buy a pair of shoes online, but it should take more than a click of the mouse to amass thousands of rounds of ammunition."
"The Stop Online Ammunition Sales Act" asserts the following: ammunition will only be sold by licensed dealers; buyers who are not licensed dealers will be required to present photo identification; and licensed dealers must maintain records of ammunition sales and report to officials the sale of more than 1,000 rounds to an unlicensed person. Democratic Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York, whose husband was killed and son severely injured in the 1993 Long Island Rail Road mass shooting, has signed on to publicly support the bill.
Lautenberg's office noted Monday that the shooter who killed 12 and injured 58 in the July 20 attack at the Colorado movie theater purchased upwards of 6,000 rounds of ammunition "anonymously on the internet."
Lautenberg last week garnered support from three fellow Democratic members of Congress including McCarthy for a bill to ban the sale of high-capacity gun magazines.
These lawmakers have stood alone in their plight as fellow Democrats in Washington, the White House and other Democratic officials have suggested gun control will continue to have little traction ahead of of Election Day. "It's a bad time to embrace a new subject," California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a gun control advocate, said July 22 on "Fox News Sunday."