outerlimit
Member
Per gun? What if someone has some pistols, but did not know they needed to be registered. Would they be prosecuted or lose them for trying to register them?
How much does handgun registration cost in California?
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CountGlockula
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Ergosphere
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I believe it is $19 per handgun.
IIRC the law does not allow for prosecution if the evidence is the registration itself. That said, IANAL, this is not legal advice, etc.
IIRC the law does not allow for prosecution if the evidence is the registration itself. That said, IANAL, this is not legal advice, etc.
Librarian
Member
Without assurance that it would be true in your case, DOJ seems to be disinclined to prosecute folks for failing to register handguns on time. These days it's usually someone who moved here after 1998, and didn't know it was required.
Most likely you want this PDF form, or possibly the voluntary registration form.
Most likely you want this PDF form, or possibly the voluntary registration form.
dance varmint
Member
A few dollars now, but someday it costs you the handgun.
This is not really enough information. Are you a CA resident? Did you move to CA with handguns? Did you already own them in CA? Are you an out of state resident wanting to know if you can register to not fall under the felony carry law? (you can't register unless a CA resident at the time)
If you moved to CA after the enacted date you are supposed to register your handguns. Many handguns already owned in CA are legaly not registered, but if the owner makes a mistake in transport for example they are subject to a felony for what can be a misdemeanor for others.
In fact I believe they even have a task force for that. They constantly cross check legal registered owners with people added to the prohibited list. If at any time a legal gun owner becomes prohibited they become red flagged.
If the state comes to take guns, they will do it with force (think SWAT type team) for thier safety.
Many prohibiting offences are misdemeanors that are not prohibiting elsewhere.
For example any assault or battery is a 10 year prohibition. That means raising your fist to the guy talking dirty to your wife and taunting you is a 10 year disqualifier. It is also means acting in an intimidating way (assault is the threat of force, not the actual use, that is battery) can cause you to become a prohibited person for 10 years. If you stand up to anyone in any way not necessary for self defense you can be disqualified for 10 years.
There is other interesting disqualifiers that are virtualy non issues in other states.
Legaly no firearms can be transfered anymore without going through an FFL (gun show loophole closed), except from parent or grandparent to child (not the reverse.) All firearms legaly transfered go through an FFL and all handguns that go through an FFL in the state are automaticly registered. That means all handguns purchases or transfers in the state are automaticly registered and you do not need to register them yourself.
If you moved to CA after the enacted date you are supposed to register your handguns. Many handguns already owned in CA are legaly not registered, but if the owner makes a mistake in transport for example they are subject to a felony for what can be a misdemeanor for others.
That is true, it is a shopping list in one of the more authoritarian states. If they ban a type of firearm, or for any reason you become a prohibited person they will show up and want every firearm they know about, and any others they find out about.
In fact I believe they even have a task force for that. They constantly cross check legal registered owners with people added to the prohibited list. If at any time a legal gun owner becomes prohibited they become red flagged.
If the state comes to take guns, they will do it with force (think SWAT type team) for thier safety.
Many prohibiting offences are misdemeanors that are not prohibiting elsewhere.
For example any assault or battery is a 10 year prohibition. That means raising your fist to the guy talking dirty to your wife and taunting you is a 10 year disqualifier. It is also means acting in an intimidating way (assault is the threat of force, not the actual use, that is battery) can cause you to become a prohibited person for 10 years. If you stand up to anyone in any way not necessary for self defense you can be disqualified for 10 years.
There is other interesting disqualifiers that are virtualy non issues in other states.
Legaly no firearms can be transfered anymore without going through an FFL (gun show loophole closed), except from parent or grandparent to child (not the reverse.) All firearms legaly transfered go through an FFL and all handguns that go through an FFL in the state are automaticly registered. That means all handguns purchases or transfers in the state are automaticly registered and you do not need to register them yourself.
Librarian
Member
Eh? What makes you think so? The code merely allows transfer within the immediate family; it doesn't specify which direction. PC 12078
Perhaps Librarian it can go from child to parent or grandparent, I believe I ran across something to the contrary prior, but obviously it is not in that particular statute.
However such a firearm is still registered as it applies to this thread:
"The person to whom the firearm is transferred shall, within 30
days of taking possession of the firearm, forward by prepaid mail or
deliver in person to the Department of Justice, a report that
includes information concerning the individual taking possession of
the firearm, how title was obtained and from whom, and a description
of the firearm in question."
However such a firearm is still registered as it applies to this thread:
"The person to whom the firearm is transferred shall, within 30
days of taking possession of the firearm, forward by prepaid mail or
deliver in person to the Department of Justice, a report that
includes information concerning the individual taking possession of
the firearm, how title was obtained and from whom, and a description
of the firearm in question."
If you read the law, a handgun is supposed to be registered, but it's really only an issue if you want to illegally carry it concealed without a license. If it's registered, that's a misdemeanor. If not, it's a felony. Assuming you don't plea-bargain it down to a traffic violation or something. OTOH, you could be Nifonged easily, but somehow I doubt that registering your handgun will save you from that.
I am not a lawyer, but I'd strongly advise anyone who intends to carry a concealed handgun illegally in California to register that particular gun.
Make sure to follow the law if you plan to break the law.
And OF COURSE, if you plan to commit a violent crime like bank robbery or murder or something, make sure to register the handguns you plan to use. You wouldn't want to be charged with a felony or something... Oh wait...
Do you think that sounds stupid? I didn't make the laws.
Read the laws at the DOJ website. Don't trust the accuracy of the booklet they have online, but it's a start. Then read the actual laws. It's all in there.
http://ag.ca.gov/firearms/
I am not a lawyer, but I'd strongly advise anyone who intends to carry a concealed handgun illegally in California to register that particular gun.
Make sure to follow the law if you plan to break the law.And OF COURSE, if you plan to commit a violent crime like bank robbery or murder or something, make sure to register the handguns you plan to use. You wouldn't want to be charged with a felony or something... Oh wait...
Do you think that sounds stupid? I didn't make the laws.
Read the laws at the DOJ website. Don't trust the accuracy of the booklet they have online, but it's a start. Then read the actual laws. It's all in there.
http://ag.ca.gov/firearms/
Standing Wolf
Member in memoriam
Registering your firearms costs you nothing but your freedom, which is of absolutely no value, according to government authorities.
brighamr
Member
as much as the FFLs choose to gouge you.
Draven, you are mistaken.
See section 12025 here: http://ag.ca.gov/firearms/dwcl/12020.php
If the gun is unregistered, concealed and loaded (or you're carrying ammo for it), the conviction may be enhanced. If it's registered to you, it's not.
Note that I wasn't offering "advice", rather a sarcastic, but accurate, depiction of our laws here.
See section 12025 here: http://ag.ca.gov/firearms/dwcl/12020.php
If the gun is unregistered, concealed and loaded (or you're carrying ammo for it), the conviction may be enhanced. If it's registered to you, it's not.
Note that I wasn't offering "advice", rather a sarcastic, but accurate, depiction of our laws here.
Or if you accidentaly make any mistakes during transport. In locked container but lock pops open? Felony. Lock not locked? Felony.
Accidently loaded per legal definition? Felony.
Even if the firearm jams at the range, has the round stuck in it, and you cannot clear it or empty the magazine it is still illegaly loaded during transport back home. I have seen such a jam in a tubular magazine rifle.
I even saw one guy get arrested because he had his firearm in a multi digit combination case and 75% of the combination was already entered. The arresting officer said he didn't consider it locked, and therefore it was an illegaly concealed firearm in the case.
You also only get one possible misdemeanor. Whether it was an accident or intentional carry, one is all you got (and maybe not even one if there is other mitigating factors.) Even then a misdemeanor is not nothing.
Get into an accident, randomly get searched etc, that is your one misdemeanor. Even a misdemeanor can still subject you to jail time, interfere with your job and cause other hassle too.
Also be very careful of words you say to a police officer. Some statutes are activated based on what is said.
Someone can also lose thier firearm rights for a minor misdemeanor charge involving firearms, on average it is for 10 years in CA.
I know someone that lost thier firearms for 10 years because they were target shooting on many acres private property in a safe otherwise legal manner in a relatively secluded area because it was a violation of an ordinance of the unincorporated area to discharge a firearm (with some exceptions for hunting).
So if caught for unlicensed carry, even if there was no other charges, no other crime was commited, it is quite possible they would lose thier firearm rights for 10 years or so.
highorder
Member
wait, WHAT?
The arresting officer was known as a jerk by other officers and people in the area.
(Officer was just randomly asking to inspect peoples' weapons at a public outdoor range.)
However the guy arrested lived hundreds of miles away and was on vacation. He was unable to keep his job and attend a lengthy trial far away and so plea bargained it down to something else after traveling hundreds of miles to the first court appearance.
If he had attended the entire trial he probably could have won.
Since he was an out of state resident, there was no way his firearm could have been legaly registered, and so it was a felony charge.
What it was plead down to still removed his right to have firearms in the state (which he became aware of after the fact). The handgun was not returned to him nor were the other firearms he had at the time, and now that he is legaly a prohibited person in the state (I think for 10 years) they likely never will be.
The officer requested to inspect the firearm, which under state law they are entitled. That meant the guy had to give him the combination, and upon doing so the officer found that most of the combination was already entered and so arrested the guy for an illegaly concealed handgun since it was in a case that concealed it, yet it was not a "locked case" according to the officer.
This is a place that people drive thier vehicles to and unload thier weapons and ammo from thier vehicles right on the range. However by state law those weapons still in the vehicle or even on top of the vehicle must still be stored in ways legal for transport.
The guy will no longer come to CA.
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