Dan Ladd: California ruling on ammunition background checks raises eyebrows in New York

On July 25, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that California’s requirement for background checks on ammunition purchases  – in place since 2019 – violates the Second Amendment. Basically, the ruling stated that in order to utilize a firearm under Second Amendment rights, one must also be able to access ammunition to use in a firearm.

It didn’t take long for New York gun owners to take note of the ruling, as we are all too familiar with our own ammunition background checks that were implemented in 2023. The ammo background checks may be the most criticized part of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2022 Concealed Carry Improvement Act.

Although retailers report that the system has improved, you still hear reports of delays, which stalls planned trips to the gun range, or in some cases, interrupts hunting plans. The bottom line is that if you need ammo, you need to account for the fact that your purchase could be delayed by hours, or even days, and plan accordingly.

The other option, of course, which so many who can are doing, is purchasing ammunition out of state. It would be interesting to know how much business New York retailers have sadly lost because of this component within the CCIA.

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So, what could the California ruling potentially mean for New York gun owners? Gun rights attorney Paloma Capanna, who is partially based in the Adirondacks, said the ruling was both exciting and directly relevant. “I have been studying the California case of Rhode v. Bonta from its inception in 2019, including the recent merits trial decision victory, now affirmed on appeal,” she said in an email. “I have already several times cited to the case during the course of our constitutional challenge to the New York ammunition background check case, Gazzola v. Hochul. This adds an appellate court level of persuasion to that argument.”

Several others in the gun rights community have opined that this isn’t over in California. “If it is further appealed by the California Attorney General and taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court,” Capanna added, “we will amicus brief in support of plaintiffs and I would expect the decision to be affirmed.”

We’ll surely be watching this, as well as other ongoing cases in neighboring New Jersey, for any new developments.

The Wall. My region was one of the lucky few this year to have the The Traveling Wall come to our area.

If you’re not familiar with it, the Traveling Wall is a scaled down version of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC. It stands 6 feet tall at the center and covers almost 300 feet from one end to the other and was on display at the American Legion Post 574, in Hudson Falls, in Washington County recently for four days.

My wife Adrienne and I, whose three brothers served in Vietnam (and came home, thankfully), visited the Wall on a rainy Sunday morning. I’ve never been to the original in Washington, but was certainly taken in by this version as numerous thoughts went through my mind.

It was eerie, forthright and honorable and well worth taking the time to pay our respects. There were also displays honoring the fallen on Sept. 11, 2001, as well as the numerous military conflicts, from Kuwait to Afghanistan, that the U.S. has been involved in.

This might not sound like it applies to the outdoor world, but one can’t help but think that the sacrifices made by those who are honored in these displays helped ensure the freedoms we enjoy today, including those in the outdoors.