BREAKING: Reaction From Today’s Rhode Arguments
It’s been just over 8 years since the passage of Proposition 63 and, subsequently, the filing of CRPA’s challenge to the new law’s onerous requirements with regard to the purchase and transportation of ammunition. After Judge Roger Benitez ruled the law unconstitutional (for the second time) back in January, the Ninth Circuit immediately stayed that ruling pending the state’s appeal.
Today, the case moved forward with the hearing of oral arguments from both sides at the Ninth Circuit in Pasadena. Attorneys arguing for the plaintiffs made perfectly clear that the California law is unique, noting that not once in this country’s history has the government required background checks for securing ammunition under a scheme as restrictive as California’s. California was the first state to implement such a restriction, making it impossible to meet the Bruen‘s requirement for a “historical analog” to the modern-day law.
“The Supreme Court remanded this case back to the Ninth Circuit so that it could follow the directive laid out in Bruen,” stated CRPA President & General Counsel Chuck Michel. “Our arguments today forcefully demonstrate that ammunition is, of course, covered by the Second Amendment and that the restrictions put in place by the state simply don’t hold up to the standard established in Bruen.”
Lead plaintiff and Olympic champion Kim Rhode is joined in the case by Able’s Sporting Goods, Ammunition Depot, and Sam’s Shooters Emporium and NRA in supporting this case. Many 2A groups such as Gun Owners of California, Gun Owners of America, and Gun Owners Foundation, filed amicus briefs, as did 24 other states.
As we’ve seen over the last eight years, the state will NOT simply retreat. We need your help to defeat this unconstitutional law in California that prohibits direct ammunition purchases, bringing lawfully purchased ammunition across state lines, and paying for additional background checks for ammunition as a necessary part of our fundamental right to keep and bear arms!