Law requires a background check for every ammunition purchase.
A California law requiring people undergo a background check to purchase ammunition can be in effect while a legal challenge to the law is considered by the courts, federal judges ruled on Feb. 5.
A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit stayed an injunction against the law that was entered days earlier by U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez, who ruled the law clashed with the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment.
The two judges on the appeals court who stayed the injunction, U.S. Circuit Judges Richard Clifton and Holly Thomas, did not explain their decision, which remains in effect for now as the case moves forward, beyond referring to a previous ruling in a separate case.
That ruling, in Nken v. Holder, went over the standard for entering a stay pending appeal.
U.S. Circuit Judge Consuelo Callahan, the third member of the panel, dissented.
“I would deny the motion for a stay pending appeal,” she said. “I do not believe appellant has met his burden of showing a likelihood of success on the merits or that irreparable injury will occur absent a stay.”
Judges Benitez, Clifton, and Callahan were appointed by President George W. Bush. Judge Thomas was appointed by President Biden.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat who asked for the appeals court to stay the injunction, cheered the decision.
“California’s life-saving ammunition laws will remain in effect as we continue to defend them in court,” Mr. Bonta said in a statement. “We will never stop fighting to protect Californians from the scourge of gun violence.”
The law was challenged by a group including Kim Rhode, an Olympic gold medal winner, and the California Rifle & Pistol Association.
Chuck Michel, president and general counsel for the association, said in a statement said it will seek further review by a different panel of the court and “restore the people’s right to buy the ammunition they need for sport or to defend their families.”
Background of Law, Ruling
California voters had in 2016 approved a ballot measure requiring gun owners to undergo initial background checks to buy ammunition, and pay $50 for a four-year ammunition permit.
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