Compliance Guides
Step-by-step guides to help you navigate California firearms compliance.
Purchase Compliance
4Building a Compliant Rifle: Featureless vs Fixed Magazine
California law prohibits semiautomatic centerfire rifles with detachable magazines and any "evil feature." This guide provides a detailed comparison of the two legal pathways: the featureless build (removing prohibited features while keeping a detachable magazine) and the fixed magazine build (keeping features but permanently affixing the magazine). Covers specific parts, pros and cons, and legal considerations.
Buying a Handgun in California: Step-by-Step
A complete walkthrough of the California handgun purchase process, from obtaining a Firearm Safety Certificate to completing the Dealer Record of Sale and passing the safe handling demonstration at pickup. Covers the handgun roster, 10-day waiting period, and one-in-30-day purchase restriction.
Buying a Rifle or Shotgun in California
A guide to legally purchasing a rifle or shotgun in California. Covers the Firearm Safety Certificate requirement (expanded to all firearms in 2015), the DROS process, the 10-day waiting period, and the one-in-30-day restriction that now applies to semiautomatic centerfire rifles under SB 61.
Buying Ammunition in California After Prop 63
Proposition 63 (2016) and subsequent legislation created a comprehensive ammunition purchase framework in California. Ammunition sales generally must go through licensed vendors with DOJ approval, subject to statutory exemptions. This guide covers the standard $5 check, the $19 full eligibility check, eligible vs. ineligible results, and the vendor licensing requirement.
Storage Requirements
1Transportation
2Transporting Firearms in California: Legal Requirements
For handgun transport under PC 25610, the firearm must be unloaded and locked in the vehicle's trunk or in a locked container. Separate rules apply to licensed concealed carry and nonconcealable rifles and shotguns. Federal FOPA protections also restrict access to firearms and ammunition during qualifying interstate transport.
Vehicle Carry Without a CCW in California
California law permits eligible people to transport a handgun or other concealable firearm without a CCW permit under Penal Code Section 25610 for the purposes specified in Sections 25510 to 25595. Within the vehicle, the firearm must be unloaded and locked in the trunk or in a locked container. The glove compartment and utility compartment do not qualify as locked containers. This guide covers these requirements and common mistakes.
Reciprocity
1Registration
1Self-Defense
3California Use of Deadly Force Standards
California Penal Code Sections 197-199 define the circumstances under which homicide is justifiable. In self-defense or defense of another, the standard requires a reasonable belief in imminent danger of death, great bodily injury, or a forcible and atrocious crime, a reasonable belief that immediate deadly force is necessary, and no more force than reasonably necessary. CALCRIM 505 and 506 provide the jury instructions that govern how these standards are applied at trial.
Home Defense Without a CCW in California
California does not require a CCW permit or any special license to possess a firearm in your own home. Any person who is not prohibited from owning firearms may keep a firearm at home for self-defense. The Castle Doctrine under Penal Code Section 198.5 applies to all lawful residents regardless of CCW status.
Self-Defense: Castle Doctrine in California
California Penal Code Section 198.5 creates a presumption of reasonable fear when a resident uses deadly force against an intruder who unlawfully and forcibly enters the home. CALCRIM 505 states that a defendant is not required to retreat and may stand their ground in lawful self-defense, even if safety could have been achieved by retreating.
Legal Analysis
10"Disassembly of the Action": What It Means for Fixed Magazines
A fixed magazine avoids the features test for semiautomatic centerfire rifles, but a fixed magazine holding more than 10 rounds or an overall length under 30 inches still meets the assault-weapon definition. Other assault-weapon definitions may also apply. A fixed magazine is one that cannot be removed "without disassembly of the firearm action." Title 11, California Code of Regulations, Section 5471(n) defines disassembly for specified assault-weapon provisions. That definition does not by itself establish approval of the AR MagLock + Kingpin or another particular compliance device.
"Freedom Week" Magazines: What March 29 - April 5, 2019 Changed
During a seven-day window in 2019, Judge Benitez's injunction in Duncan v. Becerra (now Duncan v. Bonta) temporarily lifted California's ban on acquiring large-capacity magazines. Millions of magazines entered the state. The March 2025 en banc decision upheld the ban, but the ban on possessing magazines acquired when acquiring them was lawful, which includes Freedom Week magazines, has never taken effect, and the Ninth Circuit partially stayed its mandate to keep that status pending the Supreme Court's disposition of the petition in No. 25-198. The case continues through the courts.
California's Prohibited Person Categories vs Federal Law
California's prohibited person categories under Penal Code Sections 29800-29905 are significantly broader than the federal categories under 18 U.S.C. Section 922(g). Key areas of divergence include mental health holds (5150), misdemeanor domestic violence definitions, restraining order scope, and juvenile offenses. A person cleared under federal law may still be prohibited under California law.
California's Red Flag Law (GVRO): Due Process and Practical Realities
California's Gun Violence Restraining Order (GVRO) law (Penal Code Division 3.2, beginning with Section 18100) allows law enforcement, eligible family members and employers, as well as qualifying roommates, coworkers, school personnel, dating partners and people who share a child with the subject to petition courts to temporarily remove firearms from individuals deemed dangerous. Due process concerns center on ex parte orders issued without the respondent's presence.
FOPA Safe Passage: Theory vs Practice in California
The Firearms Owners' Protection Act (18 U.S.C. Section 926A) protects interstate transport of firearms through restrictive states, but California's strict definitions of "locked container" and law enforcement's approach to firearms encounters create practical risks that exceed what the federal statute contemplates.
Handgun Roster and Microstamping: From 2013 to SB 452
California's roster microstamping requirement took effect in May 2013. SB 452 removed it from the roster criteria effective January 1, 2024, and created a separate framework that could restrict dealer sales of non-microstamping pistols from January 1, 2028 if the DOJ makes the required determination. The DOJ roster of October 16, 2026 listed 1,003 handguns. Boland v. Bonta challenges the roster under the Second Amendment.
Marijuana and Firearms in California: The Federal-State Conflict
Federal law restricts firearm possession by unlawful drug users under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3). The Supreme Court heard United States v. Hemani on March 2, 2026, and decided it on June 18, 2026, holding the prosecution unconstitutional as applied to Hemani.
SB 2 Sensitive Places: What's Enjoined vs What's Enforceable
SB 2 (2023) designated 26 categories of sensitive places where concealed carry is prohibited even with a valid CCW permit. Twenty of the first 26 listed categories are enforceable after the Ninth Circuit's May v. Bonta ruling (mandate January 23, 2025). Six categories remain enjoined, including the private-property default. On June 25, 2026, the Supreme Court held in Wolford v. Lopez that Hawaii's private-property default rule violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments.
The Off-Roster Premium Market: Legal but Controversial
Off-roster handguns can legally enter California through private party transfers (PPT), intrafamilial transfers, and law enforcement exemptions. A February 2021 court declaration described a premium price for Generation 5 Glock handguns available to California residents through private-party sales by law enforcement. The practice is legal but faces ongoing scrutiny from lawmakers and the DOJ.
The Rimfire Loophole: Why Your 10/22 Isn't an Assault Weapon
California's assault weapon characteristics test under Penal Code Section 30515(a)(1) applies only to "semiautomatic, centerfire" rifles. Rimfire rifles like the Ruger 10/22 with pistol grips and detachable magazines are not assault weapons under the features test, though the named-model ban and large-capacity magazine restrictions still apply.