Newsom Calls Ninth Circuit Decision on Ammunition Background Checks 'Slap in the Face'

You'd think someone who claims he's not anti-gun and has no ideological 
opposition to the Second Amendment would be thrilled to see the Ninth 
Circuit Court of Appeals uphold a lower court decision declaring 
California's background check scheme for ammunition purchases 
unconstitutional. And I'm guessing that most folks who truly aren't 
opposed to our right to keep and bear arms are happy (or at least aren't 
upset) by the decision handed down on Thursday. 

After all, more than 10 percent of all ammunition purchases are falsely 
denied in California, which has a huge impact on lawful gun owners. And 
since they can't legally order ammunition shipped online and have it 
delivered to their home, or even travel out of state and bring ammo back 
home with them, there's no way for them to avoid California's restrictive 
and error-plagued scheme without running afoul of the law. Seeing that 
scheme struck down is reason to celebrate... at least if you're not an 
anti-gun twit cosplaying as a Second Amendment supporter like California 
Gov. Gavin Newsom. 

Governor Gavin Newsom issued the following statement today on a three-
judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit striking 
down California’s ammunition background check law, which was passed by 
voters in 2016: 

Strong gun laws save lives – and 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. Californians voted to require background checks 
on ammunition and their voices should matter.

Most major polls show overwhelming bipartisan support for universal 
background checks and other gun safety measures, with support typically 
ranging from 85% to 90%. A 2023 Fox News poll found that 87% of American 
voters back criminal background checks for all gun buyers. In California, 
voters approved background checks for ammunition purchases in 2016 by a 
63% to 36% margin.

Our enumerated rights aren't contingent on public polling. They're 
enshrined in the Constitution for a reason, and when it comes to the right 
to keep and bear arms, the Constitution explicitly says they shall not be 
infringed. 

California's ammunition background check law infringes on that right in a 
number of ways. As I mentioned, false denials are far more common than 
legitimate denials. The California Department of Justice's own data shows 
that between January and June of 2023 there were 58,057 denials because of 
mismatching records compared to just 141 denials because the ammunition 
purchaser was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition. 

The ammo background check scheme also imposes additional fees and/or 
built-in delays for gun owners. And as I mentioned, residents can't 
legally bybass these infringements by purchasing ammunition online or even 
traveling across state lines to buy ammo in Arizona, Nevada, or Oregon 
because that's not allowed either. 

None of these requirements comport with the national tradition of gun 
ownership, much less the plain text of the Second Amendment. 

As for Newsom's whining that these checks represent the will of the 
people, so what? If a majority of Californians voted to criminalize 
political speech or impose a religious test on public officials, would 
Newsom still argue that those laws should be upheld because they're 
popular? The vote in favor of these restrictions on ammunition purchases 
could have been 99-to-1. It still wouldn't make the law constitutional. 

It was just a couple of weeks ago that Newsom claimed on a podcast that 
he's not anti-gun at all, just in favor of a few "common sense" 
restrictions on things like "weapons of war" and large capacity "magazine 
clips". If that was really the case then he'd have no problem whatsoever 
with the Ninth Circuit's decision in Rhode v. Bonta. The truth, though, is 
that Newsom has a big problem with the Second Amendment and gun owners in 
general, even if he's now trying to rebrand himself as a 2A supporter. 

https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2025/07/25/newsom-calls-ninth-circuit-
decision-on-ammunition-background-checks-slap-in-the-face-n1229390