Fact check: Viral post errs comparing oversight for ammo and Sudafed purchases

Ana Faguy, USA TODAY
·4 min read

The claim: There is no background check to buy 10,000 rounds of ammunition, but if you buy Sudafed you go in a national database

In the aftermath of the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, social media users have been quick to comment on gun regulations – or the lack thereof.

A May 25 Facebook post from liberal commentator Brian Tyler Cohen that was shared nearly 400 times in 10 days claimed, "There is no background check to buy 10,000 rounds of ammo, but if you buy one box of Sudafed your name goes into a national database." 

A tweet with the same caption received more than 32,000 retweets and 190,000 likes.

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But experts say this comparison oversimplifies on both counts. Some states do have background checks for ammunition purchases, and while purchases of Sudafed require names to be logged either electronically or in a written log, there is no comprehensive national database for such purchases.

Brian Xia, 44, picks up his gun at a gun store in Arcadia, Calif., on March 15, 2020.
Brian Xia, 44, picks up his gun at a gun store in Arcadia, Calif., on March 15, 2020.

Some states have background checks for purchases of ammunition

There is no federal background check to buy ammunition, according to Eugene Volokh, a UCLA School of Law professor with a focus on the Second Amendment and gun control.

But California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and the District of Columbia all have some sort of background check to buy ammunition, according to Cassandra Crifasi, deputy director of the Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Policy at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, certain people are restricted from purchasing ammunition or possessing firearms based on their criminal histories, citizenship status or other factors. But Crifasi said there are indeed no nationwide background check requirements.

Not all states use the same database to log Sudafed purchases

Cohen, who made this claim on Facebook, said his post was referencing the National Precursor Log Exchange. The Twitter user cited the same database, which she reported using while working at a pharmacy.

That database is indeed used by most states, but it's not mandatory and not used by all states.

There is a federal requirement that regulated sellers keep a written or electronic logbook of who purchases items with pseudoephedrine, an ingredient in Sudafed, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

But there is no national database of these logbooks; according to the FDA, it's retailers who are required to keep the personal information of customers who purchase Sudafed, and other medicines that have pseudoephedrine.

Many states have mandated that these logbooks be available for law enforcement agencies to monitor and have contracted with a privately-operated database, National Precursor Log Exchange, to maintain that data. But not all states use this database. According to APPRISS Insights, which developed the log exchange, 40 states use the database.

The process of logging these purchases began in March 2006, when then-President George W. Bush signed into law the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005, which was incorporated into the USA Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005.

The methamphetamine act banned over-the-counter sales of cold medicines that include the ingredient pseudoephedrine, commonly used to make methamphetamine.

According to the FDA, the act requires that a written or electronic logbook identify the products by name, quantity sold, names and addresses of who purchased them, and the dates and times of sales.

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The methamphetamine act, which is enforced by the Drug Enforcement Administration, also mandates that customers not have direct access to products containing pseudoephedrine before a sale is made. Customers are limited in how much they can purchase in a single day and in a month, as well.

Our rating: Partly false

Based on our research, we rate PARTLY FALSE the claim that there is no background check to buy 10,000 rounds of ammo, but if you buy one box of Sudafed your name goes into a national database. While there is no federal background check to purchase ammunition, some states do require a background check to buy ammunition. Americans who purchase Sudafed will have their name logged in either a written or electronic logbook. Forty states use a shared database to track these purchases, but that database is not comprehensive or mandatory.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Viral post errs comparing purchases of ammo and Sudafed