Court reloads Second Amendment, shoots down California’s ammo background requirement

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ruled that California’s background check law for ammunition purchases violates the Second Amendment.

The decision in Rhode v. Bonta, leaned on a legal framework established by the US Supreme Court in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which requires courts to evaluate gun laws through a “text and history” test. Under this standard, modern firearms regulations must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of gun control as understood at the time of the Constitution’s ratification.

The Ninth Circuit determined California’s law burdens conduct protected by the plain text of the Second Amendment because it restricts access to ammunition, a necessary component for keeping firearms operable. The court wrote that the law “meaningfully constrains the right to keep and bear arms.”

The panel researched whether the state’s background check requirement for ammunition had any historical analogues, and found no evidence of any similar regulation in the 18th or 19th centuries. Judges concluded that the law lacked historical precedent.

The court also addressed a specific footnote in Bruen in which the Supreme Court noted that certain “shall-issue” licensing schemes may be constitutional. However, the Ninth Circuit found this footnote irrelevant to California’s law, which applies not to concealed carry permits but to the purchase of ammunition. The court emphasized that the California regime imposes a more severe burden by requiring a background check before each and every ammunition purchase, regardless of previous checks.

In affirming the lower court’s permanent injunction, the Ninth Circuit said California’s law is incompatible with the Constitution’s protection of the right to bear arms. Unless the decision is stayed or overturned by the Supreme Court, which appears unlikely, California can no longer enforce its background check requirement for ammunition sales.