California has been a hotbed of anti-gun laws for years. Lawmakers from the state have worked to undermine the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.
The fight has heated up recently with leftist leaders attacking not just the guns, but anything used by gun owners. Everything they’ve done violated the Constitution, but it takes legal action to stop them.
One judge in California has stood above others as he takes down anti-gun laws one at a time. A recent decision was a big slap in the face against leftists working against gun owners.
From Breitbart:
United States District Court Judge Roger T. Benitez issued a decision Tuesday blocking enforcement of California’s background check requirement for ammunition purchases.
The law could have suppressed the right of the people to gain access to needed ammunition. The law requires that anyone wanting to buy ammunition consent to a background check similar to the check required to buy a firearm.
California lawmakers dreamed up this law with Senate Bill 1235. A lawsuit was filed to challenge SB1235 and the chief anti-gun enforcer, state Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Benitez stuck to his legal guns by weighing the ammo background check requirement against the U.S. Supreme Court 2023 Bruen decision. Considering that decision, which undermines many current gun-related restrictions, Benitez deferred to the Constitution.
“The ammunition background checks laws have no historical pedigree and operate in such a way that they violate the Second Amendment right of citizens to keep and bear arms,” Benitez wrote in his decision.
The lawsuit, Rhodes v. Bonta 18-cv-802, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. Kim Rhode, a three-time Olympic gold medal winner in shooting events, and the California Rifle & Pistol Association, are plaintiffs in the case.
A surprising twist in California’s defense of this law was state attorneys citing dozens of laws dating back hundred of years as “historical analogues” for ammunition checks. The lawyers, representing a state that claims it is progressive and diverse, cited restrictions against enslaved people, Indians and others possessing ammunition.
Benitez wrote that these legal analogies were “repugnant historical examples of prejudice and bigotry” against people who were not afforded constitutional rights, and now don’t justify similar restrictions against people who enjoy Second Amendment rights.
“A sweeping background check requirement imposed every time a citizen needs to buy ammunition is an outlier that our ancestors would have never accepted for a citizen,” wrote Benitez.
Benitez, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, also called out the validity of the ammunition background checks. He stated that the 11% rejection rate was “too high” for the more than 1 million background checks for ammunition.
The judge also ruled in plaintiff’s favor related to an anti-importation law which kept people from buying ammunition out of state and bringing it back to California.
As a result of his decision, Benitez barred AG Bonta and any of his agents from enforcing the ammunition background check requirement or the anti-importation law.
Key Takeaways:
- California was slammed by a federal judge over ammunition background checks.
- Judge Benitez said the law is unconstitutional and barred any enforcement.
- The judge also took aim at a state law banning importation of ammunition.
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