California guns

[johnsonrlp]

So I'm going to be moving back to California in a few months (yeah, yeah, I know,). And I've heard that certain handguns that are verboten from new sales are OK to move there with and sell used, with a good return rate. And I don't want to move and then want to get something and not be able to. So what are some good pistols to buy before I move?

 

[Outlaws]

As far as I know, you are not allowed to move there with pistols that are not on their approved list, and I think it might be so far as you can't move their with any pistols not purchased and registered there. Same with rifles.

Seriously, if you like guns at all....reconsider that move you are going to make.

 

[Gordon]

Actually , I think moving here with certain guns is actually MORE lenient than buying here. Check the Attorney Generals website nd click on gun laws and look it up.

 

[brett30030]

I have no idea if it is true or not, but the pistols that are banned are the ones that seem to be worth the most. A Kel-tec p3-at that would sell for $225-$250 was posted on a website i visit, and sold for something like $800 used. I thought that you could "import" it if you already owned it and are moving instate, but i am going from recollection and not fact.

 

[BamBam-31]

Yes, if you already own the pistols, you can legally import them into the state of California. Once here, you simply fill out a declaration form for the DOJ and pay $19 per handgun. You may, then, PPT the whole lot, if you wish, and the non-approved pistols do command a bit of a premium (supply and demand, after all).

Go here (question #25): http://caag.state.ca.us/firearms/pubfaqs.htm#24

Oh, yeah. Welcome back to the suck.

 

[browningguy]

Just looked at that link and it says "your otherwise California-legal firearms with you". I'm gonna guess that's a problem with guns not on the approved list, they also specifically mention no standard capacity magazines can be imported.

 

[BamBam-31]

Actually, I'm sure you can bring in pistols not on the list (but not standard cap mags). Both FFL's I go to have said that it's legal, and both err on the side of caution when it comes to CA gun laws and The List. Here's the form you need to fill out to delcare them once in the state: http://ag.ca.gov/firearms/forms/pdf/volreg.pdf?PHPSESSID=4b7a95949530a5b7757e8cb2128aca5c. Again, $19 per.

 

[roscoe]

You can bring in ANY pistol, but NO magazines over 10 rounds. The limitation on PISTOL sales relates to "consumer safety" and the pistols have to be tested and have external safeties, etc. But, like a car or washing machine you bought in another state that did not pass CA consumer safety tests, you may possess them in the state.

Magazine capacity, and 'consumer safety' tests for pistols sold in CA, are in totally different legal realms.

 

[Ed Ames]

As far as I know, you are not allowed to move there with pistols that are not on their approved list, and I think it might be so far as you can't move their with any pistols not purchased and registered there. Same with rifles.

Incorrect. There is a HUGE amount of misinformation about CA gun laws on THR. I suggest http://www.calguns.net/ for CA-specific questions.

That said...

There are a few "don't bring them" guns... specifically, those that qualify as assault weapons. Unfortunately, that can include some pretty common guns (the Walther P22 pistol is one) and most semi-auto rifles that have pistol grips, flash hiders, grenade launchers, etc... including most AK and AR (as in AR-15 or AK-47) "series" guns. Outside of that, you can bring in any gun you want. Mags must be 10rd or less though!

Once you get here you must either notify the DOJ of each handgun (at $19 each IIRC) or sell the handguns through a dealer. Rifles don't need any registration at all. Either you can own them, in which case no problem or you can't, in which case don't cross the border with them.

If you are moving here, go out and buy some "non-approved" handguns to bring with you. You can make a tidy profit selling them and it is perfectly legal. Or you can keep them to enjoy.

 

[Outlaws]

I stand corrected.

 

[SaxonPig]

Nothing considered an assault weapon may be taken into CA but unapproved handguns may be brought in as previously owned property. But no mags over 10 rounds. The guns are OK but the mags must be 10 or less.

If are into guns at all, and I assume you are, you will be very frustrated and unhappy in CA. I fled in 1992 when the worst of the anti-gun crap was coming down the pike.

 

[Ed Ames]

I find it interesting that nobody has answered this guy's question. Everyone (myself included) has wandered off into details of the law, or politics, when the original question was very simple and far more practical.

What guns should you bring?

I really can't help you much. Sad truth is that I've been able to buy the handguns I wanted without much trouble. All the common manufacturers (S&W, Ruger, Springfield, CZ, SIG, etc) do a pretty decent job of certifying the popular guns. There have been a few oddballs (I was briefly interested in one of the Taurus .410 revolvers) but they are pretty marginal anyway. What you find is that the "big seller" guns are easy to get, but things like the ruger multi-cylinder revolvers (e.g. 9mm/357) and certain material/caliber/barel length combinations are scarce.

Again, I'd suggest calguns.net because you might find people who will tell you exactly what they want...

 

[PinnedAndRecessed]

I lived there till late last year. IIRC, for handguns, no hi cap mags, but older revolvers, etc., are ok to own when you move.

There might be an exception for so-called "assault" pistols. I don't know. I've never been interested in such.

But anything else not on the approved handgun list is ok to take with you.

I'd be careful about taking a truck load of handguns into the state, then turning around and reselling them. My guess the kal DOJ might consider that "trafficking" and thus take a dim view of it. The reason they would know is that each and every personal party transfer is logged through a FFL and sent immediately to the state.

They have a record of your guns and also of your sales. Kinda
"Big Brotherish", huh?

Oh yeah, you've got 30 days to register each and every handgun with the state, along with $19 fee per handgun. Used to, you could get the registration forms at the DOJ.

 

[johnsonrlp]

Yeah, I wasn't thinking about unloading (sic) a lot of them. Just two or three. Enough to finance a new M1A Hey if I've got to move there I might as well get something good out of it.
Think I'll pick up a Kel-tec before I go, drill a hole through it somewhere and use it as a necklace 'cause I will get a CHL when I get there It's kind of sad that I'll have to pull favors to excercise a right, but, it's a right and I won't feel bad about it.

 

[SaxonPig]

I can't advise him on what guns to buy before he moves because they will sell for more in CA because CA state law prohibits importing unapproved handguns for purposes of sale and I don't want to be an accessory before the fact.

 

[johnsonrlp]

Well,

Firearms Information for New California Residents
Handguns

Any person who moves into California and who brings any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person is considered to be a "Personal Handgun Importer" and is required to do one of the following within 60 days:

* Complete and submit a NEW RESIDENT HANDGUN OWNERSHIP REPORT form along with $19.00 to the Department of Justice. A separate report form and $19.00 fee is required for each handgun reported. NEW RESIDENT HANDGUN OWNERSHIP REPORT forms can be obtained from California Department of Motor Vehicles' offices, licensed firearms dealers, local police and sheriff's departments, the California Department of Justice Firearms Division at (916) 263-4887, and from the Online Forms Page at this site.
* Sell or transfer the handgun(s) to a California licensed firearms dealer or to another individual using a California licensed firearms dealer to conduct the transaction.

or
* Sell or transfer the handgun(s) to a California police or sheriff's department. Persons choosing this option should contact the law enforcement agency for instructions prior to transporting the handgun(s) to the agency.

It seems to me they are encouraging it, what without having to pay the $19 for every one that gets sold.

 

[Steve H]

I'm sure glad I got out of California a dozen years ago. It amazes me how the bad guys there have just about any gun you can think of but the honest guy is up the creek................

 

[Ed Ames]

So SaxonPig is your real name?


I think the OP's goal is unrealistic because most CA gun buyers are pretty happy with buying from the approved list and won't pay a super premium. But I don't think he (or anyone else) will get into any trouble over doing what the law allows him to do -- bring, as a new resident, guns that he personally owns and sell them after entering the state.

 

[ryoushi]

Here is a link to the list of approved handguns. http://ag.ca.gov/firearms/fsdcertlist.php

Check to see if any guns you want aren't on the list and purchase those before moving. I find it's the high end semi custom stuff from Wilson, Baer, Brown, etc., that is unavailable. These smaller outfits simply can't afford to submit every model to the DOJ for approval.

Also browsing used handguns on the internet is frustrating because many perfectly fine older models (Ruger Speed Six ) aren't on the list and can't be purchased.

 

[SaxonPig]

Ed- No, but my real name is not a mystery.

That is interesting about the CA law inviting new residents to sell guns within 60 days of moving into the state. I hadn't seen that before and certainly does seem to encourage bringing guns in to sell although technically it's illegal to do so and I wouldn't admit to doing it.

I think they just want all guns registered. If you sell a gun you bring into the state you must sell through an FFL and bingo it's registered with the CA DoJ. Of course, there's only one purpose for registering guns and that's to facilitate confiscation later on.

I had to leave CA in 1992 when the gun control laws there went completely out of reality. I had to leave or I would be dead or in prison by now. I know that if I had to live under that Draconian regime based in Sacramento I would snap one day and start voting from the rooftop, taking as many of them with me as I could.

 

[Ed Ames]

SaxonPig... sounds like it was a good thing for all of us that you got out of here when you could.

The problem I have with CA isn't the number of laws. Frankly, there are many places with laws that would chafe me worse... DC, NY, MA, IL, just to name a few... it's the reason for the laws. The people and culture which caused the laws.

Gun ownership is not accepted in the mainstream culture in *Southern* CA. It isn't accepted because we (gun owners) are often too afraid to mention that we own guns. I've known people for years, thinking they were the "CA-normal" anti-gun types until one day I decided, "I'm going to mention going shooting..." and suddenly they are telling me how they were avid shooters who went hunting all the time and... neither of us knew that about the other because neither of us had the courage to tell someone about our interests. How can we be part of the community if we won't stand up as part of the community? Yet it's accepted that we must hide. I went to a CA hunter safety class a few months ago and a large part of the class time was spent explaining that you shouldn't advertise the fact that you are a hunter, you shouldn't leave your deer carcass uncovered in the back of your truck... they even had a guy yelling KIDS! YOU DON'T GO TO SCHOOL AND TELL OTHER KIDS ABOUT GOING HUNTING! YOU DON'T TELL THEM ABOUT YOUR GUN! YOU DON'T MENTION YOUR PARENT'S GUNS! YOU KEEP QUIET ABOUT THIS STUFF! so the 8-14yo crowd in the front would feel really warm and fuzzy about their new activity. No advice was given as to how we could break out of our underground status... just a lot of talk about how different it was from Alabama or South Dakota.

What's funny about all of that is that there are a lot of gun owners in Southern CA. I decided somewhere along the line that I wasn't going to hide the fact that I was a gun owner... instead, I was going to try to put a positive personal face on gun ownership.. and what I found was that there are more gun owners around than you'd think... and that the reaction isn't, in general, negative but curious. And when you explain the gun laws, even to non gun-owners, people tend to react with disbelief and even outrage. If more people talked about guns, and put a positive face to gun ownership, the legislature wouldn't have free reign to write so many anti-gun laws.

Northern and non-coastal CA (including the high desert where this poster is talking about going if I recall) is a totally different state. Far more gun friendly. And that's why CA has so many gun laws... we are the US in microcosm... most of the state is pro-gun, but a few cities contain most of the population and they are anti-gun. So we have complicated laws because we're trying to balance the two sides. Which in turn is why the laws, though long and complicated, aren't nearly as burdensome as the far more compact sets of laws in places like DC and MA.

 

[The_Antibubba]

There are very few pistols you can't bring in, and they are listed by name. If you have a hi-cap wondernine, you'll want to find 10 rounders for it. Once here, there is an approved list of guns that can be sold here. BUT, if you do a FTF or consignment sale of an unapproved handgun, you have no problem.

For example, take the little Zastava. It is not CA-Approved, so I can't buy one here, or have it sent. But if you move here and have one, there is no problem owning it. If you decide to sell, find a reputable shop to sell it on consignment. Any gun not specifically named is consignment sellable. That little Zastava is maybe $150 in the US. Here, you'll be able to sell it for between $350-$400, because they are rare here.

Go to Calguns. A lot is happening in California. What part of the state you gonna be in?

 

[johnsonrlp]

If you have a hi-cap wondernine, you'll want to find 10 rounders for it.

It's a good thing I bought a large assortment of normal capacity magazines before the ban when I lived in California. I'll be in the Bakersfield/Fresno area for a while, then I'm moving up north.
I think we need more open carry in California. Might raise a little awareness. I think it's good to present yourself as a normal nonfanatical regular person, who owns and carries guns.

 

[The_Antibubba]

I think we need more open carry in California. Might raise a little awareness. I think it's good to present yourself as a normal nonfanatical regular person, who owns and carries guns.

There's a lot of changes we need in CA, and guns are only one of them...


Norcal or Socal?

 

[turtles]

Get some HK USP Tacticals

You could probably sell them for a few hundred bucks more. Only prob is don't bring them in with the threaded barrel. You can bring any pistol into California as long as it does not have assault weapon features. Which means no AR pistols because the magazine is located out of the grip, no threaded pistol barrels, and no pistols listed by name. And certain pistols that were dropped of the list will collect you a premium. I'm interested in a USP tactical .