AMMO Act Mandates Background Checks, Federal Licensing, and 1,000-Round Limit on Ammunition Sales

The Ammunition Modernization and Monitoring Oversight Act, or the AMMO Act, is a massive overhaul of how ammunition is sold and tracked in the United States. If enacted, this bill treats ammunition much like firearms in terms of federal oversight, requiring background checks for retail purchases, imposing strict limits on how much an individual can buy in a short period, and forcing anyone who sells ammo to obtain a federal license. These changes are set to take effect 120 days after the bill is signed into law.

The New Barrier to Entry: Federal Licensing

Right now, if you want to sell firearms, you need a Federal Firearms License (FFL). The AMMO Act (SEC. 2) changes the game by requiring anyone “dealing in ammunition” to obtain a specific federal license, just like gun dealers. This is a huge shift, particularly for small businesses, general retailers, or even online sellers who currently move ammo without this federal paperwork. For the small hardware store that keeps a few boxes of hunting rounds on the shelf, this means navigating a new, expensive, and time-consuming licensing process, adding significant compliance costs to their operations.

Paperwork and the End of Bulk Buying

The most immediate impact for regular consumers is in Section 5, which puts a hard limit on how much ammunition you can buy at once. The bill makes it illegal for a licensed seller to sell more than 100 rounds of .50 caliber or more than 1,000 rounds of any other caliber to a private buyer within any five-consecutive-day period. If you’re a serious hobbyist, a competitive shooter, or just someone who likes to stock up to save money and time, those bulk purchases are now federally restricted. For someone who trains regularly or teaches classes, this means multiple trips to the store or coordinating purchases over weeks, which is a major convenience hit.

Furthermore, for these transactions, the buyer must present valid ID and sign a form certifying they haven’t exceeded the 5-day limit. The dealer must then send a copy of that form to the Attorney General within 30 days. While the bill mandates the Attorney General destroy the form within 60 days if it’s not needed for an active investigation, the fact remains that a federal agency is temporarily collecting data on who bought how much ammo, which raises immediate registry concerns for many.

Ammunition Now Requires a Background Check

The AMMO Act introduces a mandatory background check for ammunition purchases (SEC. 6). Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) selling ammunition to non-licensed individuals must now contact the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) before the transfer. This is a massive change. Previously, federal law only required NICS checks for the transfer of firearms. Now, buying a box of bullets requires the same process as buying a rifle.

This provision is intended to ensure that those prohibited from owning firearms—due to felony convictions or other disqualifiers—cannot legally acquire ammunition. The bill authorizes an additional $150 million for NICS upgrades to handle this massive increase in required checks. While the intent is clear—closing the loophole where prohibited persons could acquire ammo—the practical challenge will be how quickly NICS can process potentially millions of new checks annually without creating delays at the counter.

Stricter Enforcement and Higher Stakes for Dealers

Dealers face significant new penalties under this law. Not only does the bill expand federal recordkeeping duties to include ammunition sales (SEC. 3), but it also criminalizes the “straw purchase” of ammunition (SEC. 4), treating it exactly like the illegal straw purchase of a firearm. More critically, if a dealer knowingly violates the new bulk sales rules, they face fines starting at a minimum of $50,000 and up to $250,000 for a first offense (SEC. 5). For small, independent dealers, these fines could be catastrophic, virtually guaranteeing that they will err on the side of extreme caution when handling any ammunition sale.