CA ammo law overturned: Proposition 63, originally passed in 2016, will no longer be enforced. As it should be.
CA Ammo Law Overturned
A federal judge in San Diego has permanently blocked the state of California from requiring a background check every time someone wants to buy ammunition.
Proposition 16 was originally passed by voters in 2016. It first required that gun owners pay $50 and undergo a background check before receiving a 4-year permit to buy ammunition. However, the state legislature later amended it so the fee and background check were required every single time someone wanted to buy ammunition.
It also barred the purchase of ammunition from out-of-state vendors.
U.S. Judge Roger Benitez wrote,
“The ammunition background checks laws have no historical pedigree and operate in such a way that they violate the Second Amendment right of citizens to keep and bear arms."
Benitez previously blocked the law in 2020; the state appealed, and then the Ninth Circuit Court remanded the issue following the SCOTUS ruling on the Bruen case (New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc. v. Bruen).
Not surprisingly, California's state AG, Rob Bonta, responded in outrage at the ruling, tweeting,
“We will seek an immediate stay of the district court decision, to maintain CA’s life-saving, constitutional ammunition laws in Rhode v. Bonta. Background checks save lives. We’ll continue to fight to keep Californians safe and ensure these vital protections remain in place.”
There will undoubtedly be more to follow.
In the meantime...