PC 30600-30675:
.50 BMG Rifle Prohibition

Assembly Bill 50, signed into law in 2004, added .50 BMG rifles as a separate category of prohibited weapon in California. The prohibition is codified in Penal Code Sections 30600 through 30675.^[1]

.50 BMG Rifle Definition (PC 30530)

Section 30530 defines a ".50 BMG rifle" as a center fire rifle that can fire a .50 BMG cartridge. The ".50 BMG cartridge" is defined in Section 30525 as a cartridge that is designed and intended to be fired from a center fire rifle and that meets specific dimensional criteria matching the military .50 Browning Machine Gun round. A rifle is a .50 BMG rifle if it can chamber and fire this specific cartridge, regardless of whether the rifle was designed for that purpose or has been modified to accept it.^[2]

Prohibition (PC 30600)

Section 30600 prohibits any person from manufacturing, distributing, transporting, importing, selling, giving, lending, or possessing any .50 BMG rifle. This prohibition is absolute for new acquisitions after January 1, 2005. The section also prohibits offering for sale, exposing for sale, or keeping for sale any .50 BMG rifle. The prohibition applies to both commercial transactions and private transfers.

Registration Exception (PC 30625-30640)

Persons who lawfully possessed a .50 BMG rifle before January 1, 2005 were required to register it with the California DOJ by April 30, 2006. Sections 30625 through 30640 establish the registration framework.^[3] A registered .50 BMG rifle may be possessed at the owner's residence, place of business, on private property with the property owner's permission, at a licensed shooting range, or while being transported between these locations. Transfer of a registered .50 BMG rifle is permitted only to a licensed dealer or to an out-of-state transferee.

Penalties (PC 30600)

Unlawful possession of a .50 BMG rifle that is not a registered assault weapon is punishable as either a misdemeanor or a felony. Felony conviction carries imprisonment in county jail for 4, 6, or 8 months, or state prison for 16 months, 2, or 3 years. Misdemeanor conviction carries imprisonment in county jail for not more than one year, a fine of not more than $1,000, or both.^[4]

Relationship to Assault Weapon Laws

The .50 BMG prohibition was enacted separately from the assault weapon ban because .50 BMG rifles did not meet the assault weapon definition under either the Roberti-Roos named model list or the SB 23 characteristics test. AB 50 created Section 30530 as a standalone definitional category and Section 30600 as a standalone prohibition, making .50 BMG rifles a "third prong" of California's overall restrictions on specific weapon types.