A big preliminary win for the California Rifle and Pistol Association in its fight against California’s ludicrous ammunition background check law, the case known as Rhode v. Becerra. US District Court Judge Roger Benitez — the same District Court judge who set off the week-long standard capacity magazine buying spree — has issued an injunction blocking enforcement of the law.
Benitez wrote:
Law-abiding citizens are imbued with the unalienable right to keep and bear firearms along with the ammunition to make their firearms work. That a majority today may wish it were otherwise, does not change the Constitutional right. It never has. California has tried its unprecedented experiment. The casualties suffered by law abiding citizens have been counted.
And finally . . .
Defendant Attorney General Xavier Becerra, and his officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys, and those persons in active concert or participation with him, and those duly sworn state peace officers and federal law enforcement officers who gain knowledge of this injunction order or know of the existence of this injunction order, are enjoined from implementing or enforcing the ammunition sales background check provisions found in California Penal Code §§ 30370(a) through (d) and 30352, and the ammunition anti-importation provisions found in §§ 30312(a) and (b), and 30314(a) as well as the criminal enforcement of California Penal Code §§ 30365, 30312(d) and 30314(c).
You can read the full 120-page decision here.
Will this kick off another (likely short-lived) airlift like the magazine freedom week event after that injunction was handed down?
Will Ammuniton Depot, Brownells, Cabela’s and all the rest be shipping gun food to the Golden State during this brief period of freedom until the injunction is (likely) lifted so the state’s appeal can be heard?
Given the gun and ammo buying frenzy that’s been going on across the country the last six weeks, do retailers have much ammunition to send?
Watch this space.
UPDATE: We’ve talked to Ammunition Depot. They tell us they already have a crew in their warehouse filling orders they’ve received from California since the injunction was announced. And they’re surely not the only ammo seller doing that.
UPDATE 2: We just heard from Brownells who confirm that they, too are shipping ammunition to the left coast. Get your order in while you can.
