Los Angeles Times - 07.08.2019

B4 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2019 LATIMES.COM

possessing guns.

“California has a sub-

stantial interest in increas-

ing public safety and pre-

venting crime, and the

Ammunition Eligibility

Check Laws, which prevent

convicted felons and other

prohibited persons from

purchasing ammunition, is a

reasonable fit to address

that interest,” Becerra said

in the filing.

The state made the claim

as it fights a lawsuit by the

California Rifle and Pistol

Assn., the state affiliate of

the National Rifle Assn.,

that is seeking to block en-

forcement of the new back-

ground checks for ammo

purchasers.

“As loving parents, gun

owners want to stop the mis-

use of firearms by violent

criminals. But this system

isn’t catching terrorists,”

said Chuck Michel, an attor-

ney for the gun groups.

Sean Brady, another

attorney for the groups, said

the state’s filing also shows

that some 10,000 other am-

munition purchases were

not immediately approved

during the first month,

which he says indicates

glitches in the system im-

pacting law-abiding gun

owners.

Gun shop owners say

many of the other denials

may be people eligible to buy

ammo but whose names on

their driver’s licenses do not

exactly match gun regis-

tration records.

Becerra and Gov. Gavin

Newsom told reporters

Monday that they are hope-

ful the law will survive the

court challenge.

“We are going to fight like

the dickens,” Newsom said.

“We are confident that we

will prevail.”

He said that the law re-

quiring background checks

for ammunition buyers is

needed because guns alone

don’t kill people.

“Guns require a danger-

ous component: That’s am-

munition,” Newsom said.

The request for an in-

junction was filed last

month in federal court by

the California Rifle and Pis-

tol Assn., and argued that

the background checks have

created mass confusion and

unconstitutional burden on

law-abiding gun owners.

“While making sure

dangerous people do not ob-

tain weapons is a laudable

goal for government, Califor-

nia’s scheme goes too far and

must be enjoined,” the

injunction request argues.

“California ammunition

vendors have reported as

high as 60% of people who

undergo California’s back-

ground check do not pass.”

“California’s scheme im-

poses severe burdens on ex-

ercising the right to acquire

ammunition, including

effectively barring some

from acquiring ammunition

necessary to exercise their

right to armed defense at

all,” the gun group argued to

the federal court.

The law challenged with

the injunction filing also re-

quires Californians buying

ammunition from out of

state on the internet or at

gun shows to have it shipped

to a licensed vendor in Cali-

fornia where background

check is required.

The injunction request

was added to an earlier

lawsuit by plaintiffs includ-

ing Olympic medalist shoot-

er Kim Rhode seeking to

have the entire law tossed

out.

The court filing by Be-

cerra comes just days after a

gunman in Dayton, Ohio,

killed nine people, an at-

tacker in El Paso killed 22

and a 19-year-old armed with

an AK-47-style rifle in Gilroy,

Calif., killed three.

Meanwhile, a state law-

maker on Monday reacted to

three mass shootings in the

previous week by saying he

plans to introduce a new tax

on ammunition purchased

in California to pay for an ex-

pansion of violence preven-

tion programs.

Assemblyman Marc Lev-

ine (D-San Rafael) said he

will add the bullet tax to a bill

he plans to revive that would

also set a $25 tax on the sale

of handguns and semiauto-

matic rifles sold in Califor-

nia.

The tax revenue would go

to grants to local programs

that seek to reduce violence

in communities where gun

crimes are common.

“We are not helpless or

hopeless when it comes to

ending gun terror in the

United States,” Levine said.

“A $25 tax on firearms is a

small amount for gun own-

ers to pay to stem the tragic

violence guns inflict on inno-

cent Californians and will

create a permanent and

desperately needed funding

source to reduce gun vi-

olence in our state.”

A LAWSUIT by the state affiliate of the National Rifle Assn. seeks to block enforcement of the background checks for ammo purchasers.

Gina FerazziLos Angeles Times

Becerra defends state’s ammo law

[Ammo,from B1]

SAN DIEGO — Federal
prosecutors and attorneys
for Margaret Hunter, wife of
U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter,
asked the court Tuesday to
push to December her sen-
tencing on one count of con-
spiracy.
The count names her
husband as her sole co-con-
spirator.
In a two-page document
filed Tuesday in U.S. District
Court, the lawyers asked to
have the date for Margaret
Hunter’s sentencing moved
from Sept. 16 to Dec. 2. She
pleaded guilty in June to the
conspiracy charge, one of 60
counts included in an indict-
ment against herself and her
husband.
The indictment accuses
Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine)
and Margaret Hunter, his
former campaign manager,
of using more than $250,
of his political money for per-
sonal expenses such as their
children’s private school tu-
ition, a vacation to Italy and
his extramarital affairs.
Both Hunters pleaded
not guilty in August 2018.
Margaret Hunter changed
her plea in June. Her hus-
band’s trial is scheduled for
Sept. 10.
As part of her plea deal,
she agreed to help prose-
cutors. The court has de-
ferred until his trial a ruling
on whether she can testify.
The motion filed Tues-
day said that the date
change was being requested
“so that the trial of Co-De-
fendant Duncan Hunter is
able to be completed prior to
Ms. Hunter’s sentencing
hearing in light of her on-
going cooperation obliga-
tions.”
She faces up to five years
in prison, but is expected to
receive a lighter sentence
due to her cooperation.

Cook writes for the San
Diego Union-Tribune.

Margaret

Hunter

sentence

delayed

By Morgan Cook