A high-stakes bid to wipe out California’s 11 percent excise tax on firearms and ammunition has landed in Sacramento Superior Court, where local gun ranges and a national gun-rights group are asking a judge to pull the plug without ever holding a full trial.
Plaintiffs including Poway Weapons & Gear and the Sacramento Gun Range, backed by the Second Amendment Foundation, argue that the levy effectively slaps a surcharge on the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Their message to the court is blunt: the state is not allowed to put a price tag on a fundamental right.
The request comes in the case Poway Weapons & Gear v. Gonzales, where the plaintiffs have filed a motion for summary judgment that would erase Assembly Bill 28’s 11 percent surcharge, according to Tampa Free Press. Court records and the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration’s litigation roster show the parties agreed on a briefing schedule with briefs due April 10 and a demurrer hearing set for July 21, 2026, a timeline that could move the case through Sacramento Superior Court more quickly, per the CDTFA litigation roster…