On March 5, 2013, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to pass two proposed ammunition ordinances, placing new burdens on ammunition retailers and law-abiding gun owners. The Board is expected to revisit the issue on March 12, 2013, for a second and final reading. The proposals are expected to pass. Generally, they are bad public policy, excessively burdening retailers and law-abiding gun owners, while doing nothing to combat violent crime in San Francisco. Litigation is inevitable.

The first proposal mandates the reporting to local law enforcement of all ammunition sales over 500 rounds within 24 hours. The second proposal seeks to ban the sale and possession of hollow-point ammunition and all ammunition manufactured specifically for law enforcement and/or military use--whatever that means.

On March 4, 2013, attorneys from Michel & Associates, P.C. submitted two letters to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on behalf of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and California Rifle & Pistol Association (CRPA) opposing the proposed ordinances.

The letters, available here, detail the legal and policy issues with the proposed ordinances.

The letter opposing the proposed hollow-point ammunition ban details the many legal issues of the proposal, laying out how it violates various constitutional principles, including the Second and Fourteenth Amendments.

The letter opposing the ammunition sales registration exposes the proposal’s ineffectiveness and burdens on gun owners and law enforcement. It also points out that ammunition registration is preempted by state law. Lawsuits by the NRA and CRPA Foundation are certain when the ordinances pass.

FFLGuard, the nation’s premiere compliance and legal defense program for Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs), also submitted an important letter opposing San Francisco’s proposed ammunition ordinances. FFLGuard’s opposition addresses the serious consequences the City’s proposals will have on licensed ammunition retailers inside and outside of San Francisco.

The NRA is already embroiled in litigation with San Francisco over the unconstitutionality of its current ban on the sale of hollow-point ammunition and its requirement that all handguns be kept locked up in the home when not being carried. That case, Jackson v. City and County of San Francisco, is currently before the Ninth Circuit and seeks to resolve many of the issues left unanswered by the Supreme Court in Heller v. District of Columbia. The Jackson case plaintiffs are also represented by attorneys from Michel & Associates, P.C..

On February 14, 2013, FFLGuard also assisted the NRA’s efforts to bring some sanity to the gun laws in San Francisco, when it submitted a Ninth Circuit amicus curiae ("friend of the court") brief in support of the Jackson plaintiffs’ appeal.

Please continue to monitor NRA alerts at www.calnra.com and www.calgunlaws.com for future developments. Stay involved!