California gun owners raced to buy ammunition after court ruling

By Joe Garcia, CalMatters

Lifelong hunter J.R. Young of San Jose rushed to an online ammunition dealer last week after a federal court decision overturned a California gun law that required background checks in person at every point of sale.

“Is this freedom week?” he said. “I was just curious to see if this striking down of the law is allowing companies to ship into the state again.

“The way we live in society now — when we want to buy something, we don’t want to go and take a trip to the store.”

Many bullet junkies, hunters and gun enthusiasts like Young quietly celebrated the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that may or may not ultimately put a dent in the state’s strict policies for purchasing ammunition.

For now, they can’t avoid the background checks. Four days after the de