The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that California’s law requiring a background check for each ammunition purchase violates the Second Amendment in Rhode v. Bonta—a case backed by the National Rifle Association and California Rifle and Pistol Association.
The Ninth Circuit applied the text-and-history test set forth in the NRA’s landmark Supreme Court victory, NYSRPA v. Bruen.
“The Ninth Circuit has ruled California’s ammunition law violates the Second Amendment and is unconstitutional,” said NRA Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Doug Hamlin. “This is just one example of the NRA-backed cases in which we fight for the constitutionally protected rights of NRA members and law-abiding gun owners in California.”
First, 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.
The Ninth Circuit thus held that California’s background check regime violates the Second Amendment and affirmed the district court’s order granting a permanent injunction against the law’s enforcement.
“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. “Instead of harassing honest, law-aiding gun owners--like six-time Olympic medal winner and former NRA Director Kim Rhode--the state should put its resources into catching and prosecuting real criminals and putting an end to the lawlessness on its streets.”
The Ninth Circuit got this right. If California chooses to keep defending this unconstitutional law, NRA is fully committed to pursuing this case to the end, up to and including the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court.
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