California gun laws are designed to discourage you from having firearms. If you don’t believe me check out this insane flowchart from the California Rifle & Pistol Association, showing how to determine if you can legally purchase ammunition in California—NOT A GUN, mind you—but simply ammunition for a gun.
If just deciphering the flowchart gives you a headache, you’re not alone. Since going into effect there have been numerous media reports of ammunition purchases being denied for law-abiding citizens, and even peace officers and military personnel. And even though background checks for ammunition purchases in California (along with the rest of Proposition 63) was ruled unconstitutional by the United States District Court in March 2019 (and that ruling upheld by the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in August 2020), California law still requires background checks for ammunition purchases—while the state Attorney General appeals to the Ninth Circuit for a second time.
The point is: this ammunition background check flowchart aptly demonstrates the active discouragement and disfranchisement that is taking place surrounding California citizens’ natural right to keep and bear arms. The intentions behind over-complication are very straightforward: to deceive and confuse. And to make life tough for law-abiding gun owners.