Ok, I understand the logic. Probably technically, legal, maybe, but not something that an FFL would like to deal with taking that risk. So, my options are to do something like a bullet button, or I have him make the purchase.
First, if he purchases it. I know there are laws against straw man purchases, but that really isn't what this is, if I never take the gun back to CA. If he got "caught" with it, he'd have his own gun, in his own state, if I got "caught" with it, I'd be using his gun in a state where that is legal. So I can't imagine prosecution, but is that still technically a violation of strawman purchase laws, or do those only apply to people who seek to illegally own a gun or who intend to commit crimes with said gun?
No, you are not understanding the law here.
He cannot sell or transfer ownership of a firearm to you directly because you are an out of state resident.
Any firearm you obtain must be transferred through an FFL.
You may borrow a firearm under the laws of the state, but you may not legally own that firearm without transfer through an FFL.
If ownership of the firearm is transferred to you then both you and he would be guilty of violating federal law without going through an FFL.
If you go through an FFL the firearm must comply with California law
before it is transferred to you.
It does not need to stay compliant with California law after being transferred to you while outside of California, but it must be California legal at the time you become the legal owner.
Now, as for the bullet button...
The other question, as I see that I can't buy a CA legal gun and bring it back with me from CO, is how would I go about getting a gun with the bullet button? I was not looking at an AR, I was looking at something very inexpensive, like a Hi Point carbine or something. (I know, I know, don't tell me how bad they are). As I understand it, even a CA FFL can't import one and then make the conversion, am I correct? Could I, perhaps, have a CO dealer do that, and then do the transfer through a CA dealer, is that how I would do it?
You can buy a California legal gun and bring it back with you or leave it in CO. The problem is that it must be legal in California at the time of purchase or transfer, not after you buy it.
You cannot buy a firearm and then modify it to comply with California law. It must already be in a legal configuration or be modified before it is transferred to you through the FFL. However
a CO resident (like your dad) or the FFL, or even you while borrowing the gun can modify it to comply with California law before the transfer and be legal. The transfer must still be done through an FFL in CO though.
(It must be modified exactly in compliance with California law and not be on one of the bad lists or federal violations occur.)
Once you own it then you can legally can put it into any configuration allowed under CO law while in that state. You simply cannot purchase it in such a configuration because under federal law it must comply with California sales restrictions before you become the legal owner.
The rifle or shotgun must not be on these lists or it is an "assault weapon" in any configuration:
http://www.ag.ca.gov/firearms/awlist.htm
http://www.ag.ca.gov/firearms/infobuls/kaslist.pdf
A weapon not on those lists must not have one of these features at the time it is transferred to you in CO:
# A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any one of the following:
1. A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon.
2. A thumbhole stock.
3. A folding or telescoping stock.
4. A grenade launcher or flare launcher.
5. A flash suppressor.
6. A forward pistol grip.
# A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.
# A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has an overall length of less than 30 inches.
Or a shotgun with these features:
# A semiautomatic shotgun that has both of the following:
1. A folding or telescoping stock.
2. A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon, thumbhole stock, or vertical handgrip.
# A semiautomatic shotgun that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine.
# Any shotgun with a revolving cylinder.
The trick here is the definition of "detachable magazine".
Under California law it is only a detachable magazine if it can be removed without the use of a tool. The "bullet button" complies with this by making it physically impossible to press the button with your finger tip. You must use a smaller thinner object to press the button. That smaller thinner object is a "tool".
12276.1. (a) Notwithstanding Section 12276, "assault weapon"
shall also mean any of the following:
(1) A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has the capacity
to accept any ammunition feeding device that can be removed
readily from the firearm with neither disassembly of the
firearm action nor use of a tool being required and any one of the following: (list of features above).
(7) A semiautomatic shotgun that has the ability to accept a
detachable magazine.
Everyone seems stuck on ways to comply with an AR which are a modular rifle overly simplifying things.
Lets take a Saiga 12 shotgun. They are generally not available for sale in California. They are not specified on the list of prohibited shotguns.
If they have a bullet button installed they do not accept a detachable magazine, and possess a "fixed magazine" because they require a "tool" to remove the magazine.
They cannot have a pistol grip installed, or a folding or telescoping stock on them at the time of transfer. The magazine inserted in it at the time of the transfer must be under 10 rounds in capacity because it is technically the "fixed magazine".
However if they have a $10-20 bullet button installed and a fixed non pistol grip stock installed prior to transfer or sale to a California resident they are actually a California legal firearm.
Which could be purchased out of state.
Once already purchased or transferred to the CA resident there is no law preventing the CA resident from using it in any CO legal configuration while in the state of CO.
It simply must be in a CA legal configuration before they if they ever take it back across CA state lines.
Were I the Out-of-State FFL and you came in wanting to buy a CA illegal gun, even with your and a bunch of internet laywers opinion that if you "read" the law just right, it's OK because you are going to either not take it back to CA (maybe) or you will alter it to a legal configuration (maybe) before you do, I would have to look at how much I value my FFL and what kind of grief I could be put through vs. the profit involved in the sale.
That is not the law! The law is it must be California legal at the time of the transfer.
You can accomplish that with a firearm not on the above lists, which is still illegal in California due to features by altering the features to comply BEFORE the transfer.
You are then not liable for anything the person chooses to do because you sold it in legal configuration under CA law.
If they choose to take it into California in any type of illegal configuration it is they who are breaking the law. The FFL that transferred the firearm in a CA legal configuration has no liability whatsoever.
You however may not sell them the firearm with the the understanding they will modify it to be compliant after the sale. It must be in a CA legal configuration at the time of the transfer.
So whether you let them modify it while you still technically own it, or you modify it yourself with a $10-20 component does not matter, but it must be modified before the transfer.
It must be modified before the processing of the transfer and they become the legal owner.
