I just recieved this email from a dealer's email list;
I thought some of you might be interested in this - I just got off the phone with the California Department of Justice. I was calling to ask when the Walther P22s (these are compact, relatively inexpensive .22 pistols) would go back on the California approved list. They passed safety testing and were on the list for a year or so, and many were sold, but then someone at the DOJ realized that the design includes some treads on the barrel (I think they were always this way – but no one noticed before). Based on this discovery, they were immediately re-classified as “assault weapons†and banned from sale. This left many dealers stuck with inventory they can’t sell. And dealers like me, who don’t carry much inventory, suddenly unable to order or sell them. I was just warned not to even do private party transfers of these guns (which is still allowed for most non-approved models – but not for these “assault weaponsâ€).
Essentially, the people who bought these little .22s in good faith within the past year or so are now in the possession of unregistered (and therefore illegal) “assault weapons.†Under the law, they might as well have an unregistered AR15 or AK-47. And there’s really nothing they can do about it (the registration deadline passed in 2000, you can’t sell or give them to anyone in CA, you can’t sell them out of state without going through a dealer - I guess you might find a dealer licensed to deal in assault weapons who would take it – but somehow I suspect most won’t want to deal with a little $250 .22 pistol “assault weaponâ€). It’s an interesting situation.
Of course, I don’t expect the DOJ to arrest people who bought these in good faith (the DOJ people I’ve spoken with seem to be level-headed and reasonable), and I’m told by both Walther and the DOJ that they are working on a solution (gluing something over the threads sounds probable), but the DOJ rep didn’t sound like there is any ETA for resolving this. At first he said it was a Walther “manufacturing glitch†– but I think it’s pretty obviously a problem with California law (and/or the DOJ’s interpretation thereof). At any rate, don’t try to buy or sell one of these P22 “Assault Weapons†before they work this out. It’s too bad, because they are neat little pistols (I was calling because I’d like to get one for myself). This retro-active banning of a previously approved firearm reminds me of the SKS fiasco a few years ago.
I thought some of you might be interested in this - I just got off the phone with the California Department of Justice. I was calling to ask when the Walther P22s (these are compact, relatively inexpensive .22 pistols) would go back on the California approved list. They passed safety testing and were on the list for a year or so, and many were sold, but then someone at the DOJ realized that the design includes some treads on the barrel (I think they were always this way – but no one noticed before). Based on this discovery, they were immediately re-classified as “assault weapons†and banned from sale. This left many dealers stuck with inventory they can’t sell. And dealers like me, who don’t carry much inventory, suddenly unable to order or sell them. I was just warned not to even do private party transfers of these guns (which is still allowed for most non-approved models – but not for these “assault weaponsâ€).
Essentially, the people who bought these little .22s in good faith within the past year or so are now in the possession of unregistered (and therefore illegal) “assault weapons.†Under the law, they might as well have an unregistered AR15 or AK-47. And there’s really nothing they can do about it (the registration deadline passed in 2000, you can’t sell or give them to anyone in CA, you can’t sell them out of state without going through a dealer - I guess you might find a dealer licensed to deal in assault weapons who would take it – but somehow I suspect most won’t want to deal with a little $250 .22 pistol “assault weaponâ€). It’s an interesting situation.
Of course, I don’t expect the DOJ to arrest people who bought these in good faith (the DOJ people I’ve spoken with seem to be level-headed and reasonable), and I’m told by both Walther and the DOJ that they are working on a solution (gluing something over the threads sounds probable), but the DOJ rep didn’t sound like there is any ETA for resolving this. At first he said it was a Walther “manufacturing glitch†– but I think it’s pretty obviously a problem with California law (and/or the DOJ’s interpretation thereof). At any rate, don’t try to buy or sell one of these P22 “Assault Weapons†before they work this out. It’s too bad, because they are neat little pistols (I was calling because I’d like to get one for myself). This retro-active banning of a previously approved firearm reminds me of the SKS fiasco a few years ago.
California legislature 
Lockyer 