A panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that California’s law requiring a background check for each ammunition purchase violates the Second Amendment.
The case is Rhode v. Bonta. The Ninth Circuit applied the text-and-history test set forth in the landmark Supreme Court victory, NYSRPA v. Bruen. If the decision holds up, it would be a strong disincentive for other states to try a similar scheme.
The named plaintiff in the case is Kim Rhode, multi-medal Olympic shotgun shooter. On an X post, she wrote, “Six Olympic medals later, and I’d be breaking the law for bringing one shell home to California from the Olympic Trials out of state. But if you’re from out of state with a truckload of ammo? No problem… Perfectly legal to drive it into CA across state lines.
“That’s the law I just beat in court. California gun control logic at its finest. And let’s be clear… The court didn’t rule against safety. It ruled the law was unconstitutional.”
Rob Bonta is the attorney general of the state of California.
The case was on appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California and was heard by Circuit Judges Jay S. Bybee, Sandra S. Ikuta, and Bridget S. Bade. Judge Ikuta wrote the opinion and was joined by Judge Bade. Judge Bybee dissented.
The circuit court panel 2-1 affirmed the district court’s grant of a permanent injunction by District Judge Roger T. Benitez. The panel held that California’s ammunition background check regime, which requires firearm owners to complete background checks before each ammunition purchase, facially violates the Second Amendment. The case was originally filed in 2017.
Circuit Judge Ikuta wrote in the decision, “This appeal raises the question whether California’s first-of-its-kind ammunition background check regime, which requires firearm owners to complete background checks before each ammunition purchase, violates the Second Amendment. We hold that California’s ammunition background check regime is unconstitutional, and we affirm the district court’s grant of a permanent injunction.”
“This is a win for law-abiding gun owners who have had their freedom infringed upon by California’s unconstitutional ammo law,” said NRA-ILA Executive Director John Commerford.
To arrive at the decision, the Ninth Circuit determined that the background check requirement regulates conduct covered by the Second Amendment’s plain text, because it meaningfully constrains the right to keep operable arms.
Next, the court concluded that the background check regime is inconsistent with America’s historical tradition of firearm regulation, because no such law nor analogous law was ever enacted before the twentieth century.
Finally, the Ninth Circuit considered language from a footnote in Bruen in which the Supreme Court indicated that some shall-issue carry regimes are likely constitutional. The Ninth Circuit determined that this language did not apply to background checks for ammunition purchases—which are distinct from licensing laws for handgun carry—and further, that California’s ammunition background check regime is more burdensome than a typical shall-issue carry regime because California’s law requires a background check before every ammunition purchase regardless of when the last purchase occurred.
It’s important to remember that the Ninth Circuit has had several panels affirm pro-gun owner-rights verdicts in the past, only to have the full circuit strike them down. This decision will almost certainly be appealed by the state.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation has cautioned ammunition suppliers not to resume shipments to the state until further procedural hurdles have occurred. A statement from NSSF read, “A U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit panel ruled that California’s background check requirement on ammunition purchases is unconstitutional. However, NSSF reminds members that the court’s decision affirming the permanent injunction is not yet in effect and the state is likely to seek an en banc rehearing of the panel decision, which will further delay the issuance of the injunction. NSSF recommends that members abide by California’s ammunition background check laws until the stay is lifted and/or the mandate is issued.”
Click here to read the decision.
