DOJ urges court to rule against CA’s ammo background check
DOJ urges court to rule California’s ammo background check as unconstitutional
The Justice Department asked a federal appeals court to strike down a California law mandating background checks for ammunition purchases, after two lower courts already ruled the law was unconstitutional.
The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is slated to hear arguments in a case challenging the California law, which mandates background checks each time a person buys ammunition for a firearm. Both the U.S. District Court for the District of Southern California and a three-judge panel on the 9th Circuit struck down the law as unconstitutional under the Second Amendment, with the panel finding the law “meaningfully constrains the right to keep operable arms.”
Ahead of arguments before the full appeals court in March, the Justice Department filed a brief supporting the groups suing the state over the law, arguing the first-of-its-kind requirement was intentionally designed to make it difficult for lawful gun owners to get ammunition.
“California’s requirement that gun owners undergo background checks each time they seek to purchase ammunition plainly implicates the Second Amendment’s right to ‘bear Arms.’ And under Second Amendment review, California’s background-check regime for ammunition purchases is straightforwardly unconstitutional,” the Justice Department’s brief to the appeals court said.
“Its purpose—the hindrance of law-abiding citizens’ exercise of their Second Amendment rights—finds no analogue among valid regulatory schemes of the past,” the brief continued.
The brief pointed to the fees to perform the background check and the high rejection rate, usually due to simple errors, such as a mismatched address, rather than evidence that someone poses a threat.
“When firearms regulations are designed to thwart the right to bear arms, they are unconstitutional, no matter the size or characteristics of the burden they impose,” the DOJ brief said.
A coalition of Republican-led states also filed a brief to the 9th Circuit on Monday, arguing that “California’s intricate and elaborate regulatory scheme imposes unique burdens on ammunition purchases.
DOJ SUES DC GOVERNMENT OVER AR-15 BAN
While California’s ammunition background check law heads toward arguments before an appeals court, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a major gun rights case involving a Hawaii law later this month.
In Wolford v. Lopez, the justices will hear arguments over whether the Aloha State’s law, which bars handgun owners who have a concealed carry permit from carrying their weapon on private property unless the owner or manager of the property has given the person “express authorization to carry a firearm on the property,” violates the Second Amendment. Arguments in the case are slated for Jan. 20.
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