Late Friday evening, two judges from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an “administrative stay,” blocking an injunction issued by District Court Judge Roger Benitez. The Benitez injunction halted enforcement of California’s deeply flawed ammunition background check system and allowed Californians to briefly buy ammo locally or online like normal people do elsewhere.
The Ninth Circuit judges three-line order staying the Benitez injunction promised to address the state’s emergency stay request in a separate motion.
Now, almost a week later, the plaintiffs in Rhode v. Becerra have filed a motion with the Ninth Circuit asking that the administrative stay be lifted and that the court deny the state’s emergency motion for a stay of Benitez’s preliminary injunction.
As the plaintiffs argue . . .
According to the State, its scheme is immune from Second Amendment scrutiny because it is one of those “laws imposing conditions or qualifications on the commercial sale of arms” that the Supreme Court described as “presumptively lawful.” Opp’n 12. But the Ninth Circuit has already said not only that the Second Amendment protects the acquisition of ammunition, but also that “Heller does not include ammunition regulations in the list of ‘presumptively lawful’ regulations.” Jackson v. City and Cty. of San Francisco, 746 F.3d 953, 967-68 (9th Cir. 2014). In all events, whatever the Supreme Court intended to be a “presumptively lawful” commercial sales regulation, it certainly did not have in mind a law that could deny substantial numbers of people their rights.
You can read the full motion read the full motion here.
Watch this space.