A federal judge sitting in a San Diego court this week overturned California’s controversial restrictions on consumer ammunition purchases.
The 32-page ruling by U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez came in the case of Rhode v. Bonta. The primary plaintiff, famed Olympic shooting sports Gold Medalist Kim Rhode, brought the challenge in 2018 over the tenets of California Proposition 63 and the follow-on state Senate Bill 1235, which placed several controls on the sale and transfer of ammunition.
These restrictions included a ban on purchasing ammunition online for home delivery, made it illegal to bring in bullets purchased legally while traveling out of state, and mandated a background check on every over-the-counter ammo sale, the latter process complete with onerous fees, backlogs, errors, and red tape.
Benitez this week found the whole scheme an overstep, saying, "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 went on to point out that, "The anti-importation components violate the dormant Commerce Clause and to the extent applicable to individuals traveling into California are preempted by 18 U.S.C. § 926A."
The judge, who issued a preliminary injunction in the case back in 2020 only to be stayed by the U.S. Ninth Circuit within days, issued a full injunction against the state this week.
By comparing cars to guns, Benitez attempted to frame the legal pitfalls of the California restrictions in his opinion this week.
Today, a person may choose to submit to a full credit check to buy an automobile. But he is not required to pass the same credit check every time he needs to refill his car with gas or recharge his battery at a charging station. And the Constitution does not mention a right to own automobiles (or carriages or horses). Similarly, when a person chooses to buy a firearm, he is required to undergo a full background check. However, until now, he was not required to also go through a background check every time he needs to refill his gun with ammunition. And the Bill of Rights commands that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta promised to further appeal the case to the Ninth Circuit and said in a statement his office will seek an immediate stay of the district court's decision.
Among the co-plaintiffs in the Rhode case was the California Rifle & Pistol Association, which has more details on the case in the below video.