We are delighted that a panel of the Ninth Circuit has lifted the stay of the district court’s preliminary injunction in Nguyen vs Bontaa case challenging California’s one-gun-purchase-per-30-day limit. With the district court ruling back in effect, Californians can now legally purchase as many firearms as they want at once.

Attorney Kostas Moros appeared on CRPA TV today to discuss the implications of this decision.

We previously announced that CRPA, along with the Second Amendment Law Center and Operation Blazing Sword-Pink Pistols, filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the plaintiffs in NguyenWe chose this rule because it is a nuisance to gun owners but does nothing to combat criminals who do not purchase their firearms from licensed dealers who already conduct background checks.

The rule also increased the cost for buyers who wanted to buy more than one gun because, since they had to wait 30 days to buy the next gun, they had to pay the nearly $40 DROS fees again. The district court correctly ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, but as always, the Ninth Circuit stayed that ruling pending appeal.

The Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments on August 14 that appeared to go very badly for the state. The very next day, the panel decided to lift the stay and let the district court’s ruling take effect. This is highly unusual because normally, once a stay is issued, it stays in effect until the written appellate decision is released, even if the panel rules against the government. That the panel decided it could not even justify leaving the stay in effect just shows how extraordinarily weak the state’s arguments were.

CRPA congratulates the Nguyen We thank the plaintiffs for this important victory and have happily filed an amicus curiae brief in their support!