A Michigan state official is targeting ammunition sales with an ordinance meant to stop dangerous individuals from making the purchases.
Reggie Davis, the Wayne County commissioner representing the county’s sixth district, announced the measure Tuesday morning, the Detroit Free Press reports. The ordinance, which Davis hopes to pass in the county, would require individuals to undergo a mental fitness check by a local police department before making ammunition purchases.
Each individual purchase would require approval under the ordinance, though purchases at gun shows would only require a previous mental illness check, according to the Free Press.
The measure would also raise local taxes on ammunition sales, with the aim of using the money to fund gun safety courses. Davis told the Free Press that he respects the rights of gun owners, but believes that unstable individuals should not have access to deadly weaponry.
“I totally support the Second Amendment,” Davis told the newspaper. “I respect and understand the right to bear arms. But only to those who have no mental illness and can responsibly use that gun to protect themselves.”
“There’s give and take here. We can take the proceeds from the taxes on ammunition for gun safety and gun rights education,” he added. “It’s not the gun that’s doing the killing, it’s the bullets. We have no laws that restrict the purchasing of ammunition for the majority of handguns.”
Davis told the newspaper that he used to be a gun owner himself, but gave up his hobby in 2001 after the death of his brother, Vito Davis, in a botched armed robbery.
Detroit, which is partly encompassed by Wayne County, was site of the most violent crime in the U.S. in 2016, according to FBI statistics.