NRA Seeks to Invalidate California’s Handgun “Roster” in Legal Challenge

The National Rifle Association has taken legal action challenging California’s Handgun Roster, a regulatory regime that effectively bans most commonly owned handguns.

California forbids the sale of any handgun not included on an ever-shrinking Handgun Roster maintained by the California Department of Justice. Under California law, for any new handgun to be added to the Roster, three others must be removed. And often, handguns are removed without any new additions. The effect of the Handgun Roster is that the vast majority of handgun makes and models commercially available throughout the United States are banned in California, and the relatively small number of handguns available to Californians is constantly shrinking.

The lawsuit was initially filed in 2020 by plaintiffs including the Firearms Policy Coalition, Second Amendment Foundation, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, San Diego County Gun Owners, North County Shooting Center, and Poway Weapons & Gear. On April 3, 2023, the district court granted in part and denied in part the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction; that ruling is currently on appeal before the Ninth Circuit. Back at the district court, on March 27, 2026, the plaintiffs filed a motion and Fourth Amended Complaint seeking to add the NRA as a plaintiff.

The complaint argues that California’s prohibition on non-Rostered handguns, including numerous models commonly owned throughout the United States, violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. The U.S. Supreme Court has already held that handguns may not be banned in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008). Through its Roster ban, California is defying that precedent.

The case, Renna v. Bonta, is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org for future updates on NRA-ILA’s ongoing efforts to defend your constitutional rights, and please visit www.nraila.org/litigation to keep up to date on NRA-ILA’s ongoing litigation efforts.