Latest news with #backgroundcheck
Forbes
3 days ago
- Politics
- Forbes
Federal Court Strikes Down California's Ammo Background Check Law
In a major victory for the Second Amendment, on Thursday, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals struck down a first-of-its-kind law that required a background check before every purchase of ammunition in California. 'By subjecting Californians to background checks for all ammunition purchases,' Judge Sandra Ikuta wrote for the majority in Rhode v. Bonta, 'California's ammunition background check regime infringes on the fundamental right to keep and bear arms.' PETALUMA, CA - APRIL 02: Rounds of .223 rifle ammuntion sits on the counter at Sportsmans Arms on ... More April 2, 2013 in Petaluma, California. (Photo Illustration by) California's regime dates back to 2016, when California voters approved Proposition 63 by a margin of almost 2:1. Under the proposition, residents would pass an initial background check and then receive a four-year permit to purchase ammunition. However, California lawmakers amended the law to only allow ammunition purchases in-person and after a background check each time. By requiring face-to-face transactions, California also banned both online sales and prohibited Californians from buying ammunition out-of-state. Prior to California's regime taking effect in July 2019, multiple plaintiffs, including Olympic gold medalist Kim Rhode and the California Rifle & Pistol Association, sued the state in 2018. To determine if California's law was constitutional under the Second Amendment, the Ninth Circuit relied on a two-step test set by the Supreme Court in its 2022 landmark ruling, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. Under that decision's framework, 'when the Second Amendment's plain text covers an individual's conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct.' If so, the government must then show that 'the regulation is consistent with this nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation.' In the California case, the Ninth Circuit determined that the Second Amendment protects 'operable' arms, and 'because arms are inoperable without ammunition, the right to keep and bear arms necessarily encompasses the right to have ammunition.' As a result, the court concluded that 'California's ammunition background check meaningfully constrains the right to keep operable arms.' To survive the second step of the Bruen test, California attempted to compare its background check system to a wide range of historical analogues, including loyalty oaths and disarmament provisions from the American Revolution and Reconstruction. But the Ninth Circuit was left unconvinced. 'None of the historical analogues proffered by California is within the relevant time frame, or is relevantly similar to California's ammunition background check regime,' Ikuta found, and so, 'California's ammunition background check regime does not survive scrutiny under the two-step Bruen analysis.' In a sharply worded dissent, Judge Jay Bybee blasted the majority's analysis as 'twice-flawed.' Noting that 'the vast majority of its checks cost one dollar and impose less than one minute of delay,' Judge Bybee asserted that California's background check system is 'not the kind of heavy-handed regulation that meaningfully constrains the right to keep and bear arms.' Notably, the California Department of Justice in 2024 received 191 reports of ammunition purchases from 'armed and prohibited individuals' who were denied by background check. In dueling statements, the California Rifle & Pistol Association praised Thursday's ruling against the state's background check law as a 'massive victory for gun owners in California,' while Gov. Gavin Newsom called the decision a 'slap in the face.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Newsom Responds to U.S. Court Blocking Ammo Background Check Law: ‘A Slap in the Face'
Newsom Responds to U.S. Court Blocking Ammo Background Check Law: 'A Slap in the Face' originally appeared on L.A. Mag. A state law meant to tackle rampant gun violence in California has been reversed following a decision made by the Appeals Court yesterday, which ruled the law a violation of the Second Newsom issued a statement following the new ruling, saying: 'Strong gun laws save lives — and [yesterday'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.'The former law, although passed by voters in 2016, has been in limbo for about seven years through state and federal courts. The fight to appear on the state ballot began in 2015, after the mass shooting in San Bernardino, which killed 14 people at a holiday party. Newsom headed the ballot initiative, in his then role as lieutenant governor, saying it was an answer to minimizing gun violence in California. Newsom secured the votes, mandating a background check for all ammunition purchases, similar to the background check needed to purchase a handgun. This would flag any attempted consumer with a criminal record, any prior restraining order or dangerous mental in January 2024, a district court ruled the law unconstitutional — after previous halting and reinstating — forcing the state of California to appeal. The Ninth Circuit panel struck down the law yesterday, in a 2-1 decision. 'By subjecting Californians to background checks for all ammunition purchases, California's ammunition background check regime infringes on the fundamental right to keep and bear arms,' Judge Sandra S. Ikuta wrote in a statement for the two-judge majority decision, obtained by The New York background checks do receive overwhelming bipartisan support, typically ranging from 85 to 90 percent, according to the press announcement from Newsom's office. The report even cited a 2023 poll from Fox News, whom Newsom is actively suing for defamation, showing 87 percent of Americans supporting criminal background checks for anyone purchasing a firearm. The voters approved the law in 2016 with a 63 to 36 percent margin. This story was originally reported by L.A. Mag on Jul 25, 2025, where it first appeared. Solve the daily Crossword
Reuters
6 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
California cannot require background checks to buy ammunition, US appeals court rules
July 24 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court ruled on Thursday that California's first-of-its-kind law requiring firearm owners to undergo background checks to buy ammunition is unconstitutional. In a 2-1 vote, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California upheld a lower court judge's permanent injunction against enforcing the law.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
SC congressman again proposes closing ‘loophole' that allowed Charleston shooter to buy gun
Rep. Jim Clyburn speaks at his annual fish fry on Friday May 30, 2025. (Photo by Shaun Chornobroff/SC daily Gazette) A decade after nine people were gunned down in a Charleston church, South Carolina's lone Democrat in Congress is launching another effort to close the loophole that allowed the hate-filled shooter to purchase his gun. U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, accompanied by a quartet of House Democrats, announced Tuesday the latest proposal to give the FBI longer to complete a background check. Instead of letting a gun sale go through after three business days, the bill would give the FBI up to 20 business days to verify whether a customer checks out. A longer background check may have prevented the tragedy that shocked the nation June 17, 2015. A drug arrest should've prevented then-21-year-old Dylann Roof from buying the gun he used to kill people gathered for a Wednesday night Bible study at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston. But an FBI investigator didn't determine that in time to stop the sale. 'These were all constituents of mine, some of whom I knew very personally,' Clyburn, whose 6th District includes the historic Black church, said at a news conference in Washington, D.C. 'With the kind of background check we are talking about today, we would have prevented that because he would have never gotten a gun.' The gunman, an avowed white supremacist who wanted to start a race war, 'had cased the church. He had researched the church,' Clyburn said one week ahead of the 10-year anniversary. 'And he picked this church because of its history.' A federal jury convicted Roof in December 2016 on 33 counts of federal hate crimes and firearms charges. Weeks later, jurors sentenced him to death. He is among just three inmates left on federal death row after President Joe Biden pardoned 37 other prisoners in December. SC activists call for expanded gun background checks a decade after Mother Emanuel slaying In the aftermath of the shooting, the federal law allowing a licensed firearm dealer to continue with a sale after three days — regardless of whether the check has been completed — became known as the Charleston loophole. State and federal proposals to give the FBI more time have failed repeatedly. A month after the massacre, FBI Director James Comey outlined the clerical errors and jurisdictional confusion that let the gun sale go through, saying 'The bottom line is clear: Dylann Roof should not have been able to legally buy that gun that day.' Then-Gov. Nikki Haley said that knowledge made her 'literally sick to my stomach.' Her response was to criticize the FBI for still relying on paperwork, saying technology, not more time, is the solution. Pro-gun lobbying groups, including the National Rifle Association, remain staunchly opposed to extending background checks, arguing extended checks could put people in danger as they wait. The NRA has also noted that two months lapsed between Roof buying the gun and the shooting. The group contends extending the three-day required wait would not have stopped him. Nationwide, 22 states have either extended the wait for a background check beyond three days or eliminated the ability for a sale to proceed before a check is complete, no matter how long it takes, according to the gun safety nonprofit Everytown. In the Southeast, those states include Florida, Tennessee and Virginia. The bill Clyburn announced Tuesday is very similar to legislation that passed the U.S. House in 2019 and 2021, when Democrats controlled the chamber. Neither got a vote on the Senate floor. Legislation he introduced in 2023, after Republicans regained control of the House, never made it out of committee. At the news conference, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries pleaded for Republicans to support the bill. 'The gun violence epidemic that has ravaged America for far too long in such horrific ways, in such deeply personal ways, in such searing ways, requires an aggressive, commonsense response,' said the New York Democrat, adding, 'We just need a handful of Republicans to join us.'
CTV News
09-05-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Sweden's new national security adviser quits over dating site images
OSLO -- Sweden's new national security adviser abruptly resigned on Friday, just one day after his appointment, amid criticism from the prime minister that he failed to disclose information regarding images published years ago on a dating website. Tobias Thyberg, a foreign service veteran who in previous roles served as ambassador to both Ukraine and Afghanistan, had omitted the information during security background checks, the government said. The resignation comes just months after Thyberg's predecessor in the high-profile job stepped down and was charged with negligent handling of classified information. Thyberg did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on Friday. But in a statement to daily Dagens Nyheter, Thyberg said that he had failed to disclose the existence of the images. 'These are old pictures from an account I previously had on the dating site Grindr. I should have informed about this, but I did not,' he said, according to DN. Reuters could not independently verify information about the content of the images. Background checks for sensitive government jobs typically require the disclosure of any information that could potentially make someone vulnerable to blackmail. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the information should have come to light a long time ago. 'It is a systemic failure that this kind of information has not been brought forward,' Kristersson told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Norway. Thyberg had been due to travel to Oslo on Friday with the prime minister for a meeting of northern European leaders, but the adviser's participation was cancelled. Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Alex Richardson, Reuters
