A federal appeals court ruled on Thursday that California’s first-of-its-kind law requiring firearm owners to undergo background checks to buy ammunition is unconstitutional.
In a 2-1 vote, the ninth US circuit court of appeals in Pasadena, California, upheld a lower court judge’s permanent injunction against enforcing the law.
Circuit judge Sandra Ikuta said California failed to show that the law was consistent with the country’s historical tradition of firearm regulation, as required under the US supreme court’s 2022 Bruen decision.
“By subjecting Californians to background checks for all ammunition purchases, California’s ammunition background check regime infringes on the fundamental right to keep and bear arms,” violating the US constitution’s second amendment, Ikuta wrote.
The office of Rob Bonta, California’s attorney general, which defended the law, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The office of the California governor, Gavin Newsom, did not immediately respond to a similar request.
Voters had in 2016 approved a California ballot measure requiring gun owners to undergo initial background checks to buy ammunition, and pay $50 for a four-year ammunition permit.
Legislators amended the measure to require background checks for each ammunition purchase. The background check scheme took effect in 2019. Last year, nearly 200 people who were on California’s list of people who owned guns but later became prohibited from possessing them were denied from buying ammunition through this background check system, according to the California justice department’s 2024 Armed and Prohibited Persons System Report.
In his dissenting opinion, Judge Jay Bybee, a George W Bush appointee, argued that in most cases, the state’s ammunition background check process “costs one dollar and imposes less than one minute of delay”. He further argued the majority opinion is flawed and contorts the precedent set by the Buren decision “beyond recognition”.
