A broader panel will rehear the challenge to California’s law requiring background checks for every ammunition purchase.
A legal challenge to California’s ammunition background check law is headed back to court as a larger panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“en banc”) has agreed to reconsider the case initially heard by a three-judge panel — setting aside that panel’s ruling in favor of the law.
The contested law, originally approved by voters under Proposition 63 in 2016, requires a person buying ammunition to pass a background check and obtain state authorization for every purchase.
Earlier, on July 24th, 2025, a three-judge panel held the law unconstitutional, finding that it infringed the Constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
The majority opinion, authored by Sandra Segal Ikuta, argued that forcing lawful gun owners to “reauthorize” before each ammunition purchase places a meaningful burden on their Second Amendment rights.
Specifically, the court applied the test from New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen. Under that framework, the panel found that the text of the Second Amendment plainly covers ammunition acquisition, and the state failed to show the law is “consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
Because of this, the injunction preventing enforcement of the ammunition background check requirement was granted — effectively allowing ammunition purchases without state-mandated, purchase-by-purchase checks.
However, the state’s earlier request for a rehearing en banc was granted, which means an eleven-judge panel will reconsider whether the law aligns with Constitutional protections.
Because the rehearing is pending, the earlier panel’s ruling is on hold — which means the background check law currently remains in effect while the full court reviews the challenge.
Read more at East Bay Times.
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