Harley Quinn above is wrong about most things on Calif's CFLC program and is reporting urban legend. But he did get the date right, July 1 2008.
In a few days those wishing to send firearms to a CA FFL will have to contact DOJ in CA first to see if it is an approved firearm by them.
Then after that you can send it to an approved FFL if you find one that will take it. Of course it will have to pass the first test. No FFL will be able to accept a firearm unless you have prior approval and no single person can send them without an approved FFL. The new law goes into effect the first of July 2008....
Now, the facts:
- The CFLC program, supporting regulations and law behind it ONLY
deals with the "transaction" entity, not the minor tech details & approval
status of the individual guns on that transaction. Roster status of
handguns is not checked, that's up to CA FFL dealer. (They could,
for example, be coming in for exempt LEO, or 12028PC exemptions for
inheritance/probate or exempt intrafamilar transfer up or down the family
line.)
[If a CA FFL dealer orders a non-Rostered handgun (or someone orders
it delivered to CA FFL dealer) he can't sell/transfer it to a CA resident
(except LEO) and would have to figure out how to return it or flog it
outside CA.]
- THIS DOES NOT AFFECT TRANSFERS FROM NON-FFLs. An
individual selling something on GunBroker can ship a firearm to a
CA FFL dealer and is not affected by CFLC. (At this point, I don't think
it's too bright for a non-CA FFL to act as an indiviudal to avoid CFLC.)
- FFLs just enroll in CFLC via website. After a pro-forma quick approval
(there's no reason they can deny, it just means the database is set up)
the FFL just logs on and prints out the shipment letter everytime he does
biz with a CA FFL. I believe a copy of the letter is shipped with the
firearm going to CA. There's no obligation for non-CA FFL to keep the letter,
the existence of the transaction is stored in the database.
- The legal onus is on the CA FFL not the outta-state FFL. If the non-CA
FFL screws up (other than something severe, say, sending in a machinegun)
the CA FFL will either catch it or catch hell on his state audit.
- Simple details are here :
http://www.caag.state.ca.us/firearms/cflcoverview.php
It's of course a bunch of hooey.
The perceived legislative need for this was that (1) some folks were forging FFLs with Photoshop (I guess the purported shipper was not using BATF E-Z-Chek) and (2) some of the receiving FFLs were OK with ATF but did not have CA paperwork.
While the law itself sucks, the DOJ Firearms Bureau did not extend implementation beyond the scope of the law, which is good news and reflects some internal leadership changes.
Reports are it doesn't take that long to enroll, and a few minutes extra per transaction. [Web access to CFLC is 24/7, while phone/fax CFLC letter generation is only M-F 9-5 (approx.)] I'd bet nobody in CA will bitch if a source 49-state FFL adds an extra $5 CFLC fee.
Soon, The Calguns Foundation will be running ads in Shotgun News to clarify these matters, and will supply info for a web page on Calguns that accumulates a list of outta-state FFLs who are CFLC-compliant (as well as list those FFLs that have refused CA business.)
We California gunnies thank those that support us and help maintain the flow of guns into CA.
[I do wish to thank Bud's Gun Shop for publicly complying early with CFLC so that things run smoothly.]
Bill Wiese
San Jose CA
