9th Cir.;
15-15428

The court of appeals affirmed a judgment. The court held that the imposition of a fee on firearms purchasers to fund enforcement efforts to curtail illegal firearms possession does not violate the Second Amendment.

California regulates firearm sales and transfers through the Dealer's Record of Sale (DROS) system, which requires, among other things, that “any sale, loan, or transfer of a firearm” be made through a licensed dealer. The DROS system also requires the California Department of Justice to run background checks prior to purchase, and to notify the dealer if a prospective firearm purchaser is prohibited from possessing a gun due to prior convictions and mental illness. The DROS system allows the Department to charge a fee, known as the DROS fee, to cover the cost of running these background checks and other related expenses. In 2011, the California Legislature expanded the permissible uses of the DROS fee to allow the Department to use $5 of the $19 DROS fee “for the additional, limited purpose” of funding enforcement efforts targeting illegal firearm possession after the point of sale through California's Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS). Barry Bauer and others filed suit challenging this use of the DROS fee, arguing it violated the Second Amendment because “the criminal misuse of firearms” targeted by APPS was not sufficiently related to the legal acquisition of firearms on which the fee was imposed.

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