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Kim Rhode, Gary Brennan, Cory Henry, Edward Johnson, Scott Lindemuth, Richard Ricks, Denise Welvang, Able's Sporting, Inc., Ammunition Depot, Sam's Shooters' Emporium, and California Rifle & Pistol Association, Incorporated v. Becerra. 

NRA ILA Litigation Counsel informs as follows:

California enacted ammunition sales restrictions, including requirements that all sales be conducted via face-to-face transactions, all ammunition sales be recorded with California’s Department of Justice, and purchasers undergo a background check.
This case challenges the ammunition purchasing restrictions from Proposition 63 and SB 1235 which brought sweeping changes and restrictions on the purchase, sale, transfer, and importation of ammunition in 2016. These restrictions do the following: (1) make it unlawful for a sale of ammunition to occur outside of a licensed ammunition vendor, (2) require an individual who sells more than 500 rounds of ammunition in a 30-day period to become a “licensed ammunition vendor,” (3) requires all transactions of ammunition be done through face-to-face transaction, (4) all licensed ammunition vendors must require that employees who handle the ammunition obtain a certificate of eligibility (“COE”) from the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), (5) prohibits California residents from bringing or transporting ammunition purchased outside of California into the state, and, (6) ammunition vendors must first conduct a background check through the DOJ for every ammunition purchase and then register the sale of every individual ammunition purchase by reporting personal information on the purchaser to the DOJ.
On April 26, 2018, a lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California challenging these restrictions on Second Amendment, Commerce Clause, Equal Protection Clause, and federal preemption grounds.  
The named plaintiffs include individual gun owners in California, businesses, vendors outside of California who can no longer sell ammunition to Californians, and the California Rifle & Pistol Association.
California filed motions to dismiss the Commerce Clause, Equal Protection, and federal preemption claims; but not the Second Amendment claim.  In June of 2018, the trial judge denied California’s motions to dismiss on all but the Equal Protection claim.  
On July 22, 2019, the plaintiffs filed a preliminary injunction motion.  On April 23, 2020, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California granted the preliminary injunction, prohibiting California from enforcing the challenged restrictions.  
California filed a motion to stay the order in the lower court.  That motion was denied. California filed a Notice of Interlocutory Appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  The Ninth Circuit stayed the injunction pending the appeal.  
The case was briefed and argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on November 9, 2020.  On November 16, 2021, the Court requested supplemental briefing. The case continued in the United States District Court on the merits while the preliminary injunction is being considered in the Court of Appeals. 
On March 19, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit stayed the case pending Duncan, but then asked for supplemental Bruen briefing, which was completed in the fall. On November 17, 2022, the Court of Appeals then remanded the case back to the United States District Court.  The District Court ordered supplemental briefing on the historical analogues, which was completed on February 21, 2023.  A preliminary injunction hearing was held on July 17, 2023. Subsequently, the District Court ordered the parties to produce additional affidavits and expert reports. The parties await the Court’s ruling.

 

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