Ninth Circuit Panel Grants Stay: Ammo Controls Enforceable While California Appeals Earlier Ruling

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has granted a stay allowing California’s ammunition controls to be enforced as District Judge Roger T. Benitez’s ruling is being appealed.

Breitbart News reported that on January 30, 2024, Benitez issued a permanent injunction in Rhodes v. Bonta, blocking the enforcement of California’s law requiring state residents to undergo a background check before being allowed to purchase ammunition.

On February 5, 2024, the Ninth Circuit stayed Benitez’s permanent injunction while California appeals his decision.

The Ninth Circuit panel consisted of Judges Richard Clifton, a George W. Bush appointee; Consuelo Callahan, a George W. Bush appointee; and H.A. Thomas, a Joe Biden appointee.

Clifton and Thomas voted in favor of staying Benitez’s permanent injunction, while Callahan dissented.

The California Rifle & Pistol Association reacted to the stay by noting, “The Ninth Circuit doing Ninth Circuit things.”

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AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a Turning Point USA Ambassador, and a pro-staffer for Pulsar Night Vision. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.