Going Back to Cali: Many Companies Resume Shipping Ammo to Golden State

In the wake of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision this week to 
uphold a lower court ruling that declared California's background check 
scheme for ammunition purchases is unconstitutional, many ammo makers and 
online retailers have announced that they're once again shipping to 
California customers... at least for now. 

Though the Ninth Circuit panel agreed that the permanent injunction 
originally imposed by U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez was the right 
thing to do,  California Attorney General Rob Bonta still has the option 
of seeking a stay on the decision and an en banc review by a broader panel 
of Ninth Circuit judges. If that's denied, he could ask the Supreme Court 
to keep the law in effect during the appeals process. 

When Benitez ruled that California's ban on "large capacity" magazines was 
unconstitutional a few years ago and declined to stay his decision, there 
was about a week-long period where those items were once again available 
for sale in the state before the Ninth Circuit granted Bonta's request for 
a stay. During that time period, it's estimate that about 1 million 
magazines were sold to Golden State residents. 

I don't know if online orders of popular and exotic calibers are going to 
increase that dramatically, but there are plenty of companies who are 
offering up their wares to California customers. 




This may very well change in the coming days, though. In fact, the 
companies that have resumed shipping directly to California customers may 
be jumping the gun a bit, at least according to CRPA head Chuck Michel. 


Would California Attorney General Rob Bonta really prosecute companies and 
customers who are shipping and purchasing ammunition online at the moment? 
Michel said in a followup post that companies like Midway must feel lucky, 
because CalDOJ could go after them. 

DOJ's position without a doubt is that the injunction issued by the trial 
court has not gone back into effect and is still blocked.

That's why it's critically important that the panel now remove the stay on 
Benitez's injunction and allow for this lawful commerce to once again flow 
unimpeded by the state's unconstitutional laws regarding ammunition 
purchases. 

Even if the panel does take that step, California residents also need to 
make sure there aren't any local laws prohibiting them from buying 
ammunition online and having it shipped directly to their home. Michel 
says he anticipates a number of anti-gun jurisdictions will be inclined to 
pass a local ordinance. 

Michel notes that if the law requiring background checks on every 
ammunition purchase is unconstitutional statewide, it's also 
unconstitutional at the local level. But the longtime 2A litigator also 
noted that, "Bloomberg Law lawyers will try to make some distinction in 
what the law does so it skirts whatever ruling strikes down the state 
law."

If California isn't allowed to conduct background checks on ammunition 
sales, I don't know how localities could demand those checks take place. 
There would literally be no way to comply with an ordinance like that. I 
wonder, though, it we might not see cities like Los Angeles and San 
Francisco try to impose the say 10-day waiting period that exists for 
firearm purchases to ammunition purchases as well. Some anti-gun cities 
might even try to ration the amount of ammunition that can be purchased at 
one time or within a 30-day period; similar to California's "1-in-30" law 
that has also been ruled unconstitutional by the Ninth Circuit Court of 
Appeals. 

Some of the companies that have announced direct sales to California 
customers may decide it's better to hold off until there's clarity from 
the Ninth Circuit, so keep that in mind if you're buying online. I hope 
this confusion is only temporary, and the panel will clarify things in 
favor of gun owners as quickly as possible, but for the moment the status 
of California's ammunition regulations is still very much up in the air.  

https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2025/07/26/going-back-to-cali-many-
companies-resume-shipping-ammo-to-golden-state-n1229395