Judge ruling allows Cali gun owners to buy ammo online

Thanks to a ruling last Thursday by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, California gun owners may now easily buy ammunition online.

The ruling comes nine years after California voters passed a resolution, Proposition 63, requiring background checks for every purchase of ammo. The resolution made life significantly harder for gun owners by requiring that all ammo sales, including online ones, be conducted through a licensed ammunition vendor and involve a background check.

The resolution was passed alongside Senate Bill 1235 (SB 1235), which required that starting on Jan. 1, 2018, ammo purchased online not be shipped directly to a customer’s home. Instead, ammo had to be delivered to a licensed vendor for a face-to-face meeting during which the purchaser would have to show ID and pass a background check.

Everything finally began to change in February 2024, when U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez ruled that Proposition 63’s background check provision was unconstitutional and violated the Second Amendment.

FYI, Benitez has a history of angering left-wing California Gov. Gavin Newsom with his pro-gun rulings:

California governor: “Judge Benitez is not even pretending anymore. This is politics, pure and simple… It doesn’t matter what the voters decide. Concealed carry. Banning weapons of war. Reasonable waiting periods. Background checks. The idealogues are coming for all of them.” pic.twitter.com/HvnnrAwzDR

— Rob Romano (@2Aupdates) September 23, 2023

According to Jurist, Benitez based his ruling on the Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, which was that the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms establishes a parallel right to buy and own ammunition.

“[A]ll a plaintiff needs to allege is that by preventing him from buying ammunition, the government’s background check system infringed his right to bear arms,” Benitez wrote.

Seventeen months later, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Benitez’s decision in a ruling made last Thursday on the basis that the background check requirements constrain the rights of gun owners to maintain “operable arms.”

Writing for the majority, Judge Sandra S. Ikuta further explained Benitez’s contention that the right to bear arms is intrinsically linked with the right to bear ammo.

“The Supreme Court has indicated that the Second Amendment protects ‘operable’ arms,” she wrote. ” Because arms are inoperable without ammunition, the right to keep and bear arms necessarily encompasses the right to have ammunition.”

“A firearm is not available ‘for the purpose of offensive or defensive action,’ if it is unloaded. In other words, the right to keep and bear arms incorporates the right to operate them, which requires ammunition,” she added.

LEGAL ALERT: The Ninth Circuit has ruled that California’s ammo background check regime violates the Second Amendment. https://t.co/8BnsGBYDJt pic.twitter.com/E2zKyodKJX

— Firearms Policy Coalition (@gunpolicy) July 24, 2025

Turning specifically to Proposition 63, she then noted how its many rules, including the background check rule, “constrain” the right to keep and bear arms/ammo.

“Laws that impose ‘conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms’ are presumptively unconstitutional if they ‘meaningfully constrain’ the right to keep and bear arms,” she explained.

“Given the fees and delays associated with California’s ammunition background check regime, and the wide range of transactions to which it applies, we conclude that, in all applications, the regime meaningfully constrains California residents’ right to keep and bear arms,” she added.

“By subjecting Californians to background checks for all ammunition purchases, California’s ammunition background check regime infringes on the fundamental right to keep and bear arms,” Ikuta concluded.

Ikuta was appointed to the court by former President George W. Bush.

The ruling last Thursday prompted dozens of online gun/ammo shops to experience an influx of ammo sales from California.

“Due to a recent US District Court ruling in California, demand for ammunition has increased significantly,” the ammo store Brownell told its shoppers, according to Reason magazine. “We have plenty of ammo in stock, but if you find that the ammo you want is unavailable, don’t worry!”

If you live in CA, your time buy in BULK and stack it DEEP is right now!

TrueShot Ammo is well supplied and shipping direct to CA residents!

True Shot Ammo Link: https://t.co/VZ68XqR4kS pic.twitter.com/u8nhHkCwER

— WeaponOutfitters.com (@WeaponOutfitter) July 24, 2025

Newsom, meanwhile, was not happy.

“Today’s decision is a slap in the face to the progress California has made in recent years to keep its communities safer from gun violence,” he said in a statement. “Californians voted to require background checks on ammunition, and their voices should matter.”

Senior Staff Writer
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.

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