When it comes to gun rights, Californians continually suffer from the idiom “one step forward, two steps back.” Such was the case recently regarding the California ammunition purchase law. It requires residents to undergo a background check in order to purchase ammunition. After a federal judge blocked the law on Thursday, a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the law Friday.
California Ammunition Purchase Law Reinstated
“Criminals, tyrants, and terrorists don’t do background checks,” U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez told usnews.com after blocking the law. “The background check experiment defies common sense while unduly and severely burdening the Second Amendment rights of every responsible, gun-owning citizen desiring to lawfully buy ammunition.”
But now the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals granted state Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s request to stay that judge’s order. Even though Judge Benitez wrote the background checks violated Constitutional rights, the 9th Circuit Court granted the stay.
“This means that the same restrictions that have been previously in effect regarding ammunition in California are back for the time being,” the National Rifle Association said in a news release.
The bogus law took effect in July. Judge Benitez said the law blocked sales to legitimate, law-abiding ammo purchasers approximately 16-percent of the time. He further wrote it adversely impacted and violated interstate commerce laws. However, Becerra claimed the law stopped more than 750 people form illegally buying ammunition.
For Californians, the reinstatement of the law proves the latest infringement upon their Second Amendment rights. The original challenge came from a suit filed by the California Rifle & Pistol Association. The lawsuit also included the likes of six-time Olympic medalist Kim Rhode, among others.
Let’s hope the California Rifle & Pistol Association, along with all the other individuals in suit, continue the fight. We need a precedent setting decision at the federal level. We need a decision that ends bogus laws like California’s, forever.
