Ninth Circuit shoots down California background check mandate on ammunition

6:00am Monday, July 28, 2025

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that California’s law requiring a background check for each ammunition purchase violates the Second Amendment in Rhode v. Bonta — a case backed by the National Rifle Association and California Rifle and Pistol Association.

The Ninth Circuit applied the text-and-history test set forth in the landmark Supreme Court victory, NYSRPA v. Bruen.

First, the Ninth Circuit determined that the background check requirement regulates conduct covered by the Second Amendment’s plain text because it meaningfully constrains the right to keep operable arms.

Next, the court concluded that the background check regime is inconsistent with America’s historical tradition of firearm regulation because no such law nor analogous law was ever enacted before the 20th century.

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Finally, the Ninth Circuit considered language from a footnote in Bruen in which the U.S. Supreme Court indicated that some shall-issue carry regimes are likely constitutional. The Ninth Circuit determined that this language did not apply to background checks for ammunition purchases — which are distinct from licensing laws for handgun carry — and, further, that California’s ammunition background check regime is more burdensome than a typical shall-issue carry regime because California’s law requires a background check before every ammunition purchase regardless of when the last purchase occurred.

The Ninth Circuit thus held that California’s background check regime violates the Second Amendment and affirmed the district court’s order granting a permanent injunction against the law’s enforcement.