I sold an Ar15 upper to someone in CA...

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Fulleffect, I moved out of Calif. after living there for 41 years and I know just about all there is to know about Calif. gun laws. So to answer your question is your upper OK to send into Calif., the answer is NO! It has a bayonet lug and a threaded muzzle. Those features were banned in Calif. in '94 and when the assault weapons ban sunset in '04 Calif kept the configuration ban from '94 (no hi cap mags, ten rounders only, no bayonet lugs or muzzle threads) still in effect. The upper is only legal in Calif. without a bayonet lugs and unthreaded muzzle's. Im positive, but a quick call to Quality parts (Bushmaster) will confirm it for you. Hate to see you get jammed up on something as stupid as this but you never really know who's on the other end if you know what I mean... Play it safe don't send it.
 
Work2Shoot
That's how the rules were for many years. However in the last few years we've won a few significant court cases - while these decisions have restored some of our freedoms, they have changed and (once again) complicated the rules.

The nice guys over at the CalGuns.net forums have made this nice PDF flowchart (see link) that can help guide you through what's legal and what isn't.
http://www.calguns.net/caawid/flowchart.pdf
 
work2shoot, i'll have you know you gave me a mini heat attack, the money order is on it way to me right now :D

Actually according to that flow chart bushmaster xm-15 rifles are illegal so if the lower was being sold then I would have a problem here. However the upper is all just a bunch of gun parts and therefore no paperwork involved.

I would think that he could buy these parts anywhere and he would be responsible for putting them on a legal lower. In theory, he could go out of state, buy them from a gun store and then bring them back to CA with no paper work. Does this make the gun store liable?

It seems if the lower has a fixed magazine with a ten round or less capacity he could have all sorts of "evil" features and it wouldn't matter.
 
Yes. Every single part of the AR is legal to sell in CA except for that little piece of metal known as the stripped receiver which is a tiny little formed piece of metal with the serial # on it.

Assembling it together is another story.
 
Once you put a pistol grip on the lower there needs to be a 10 round mag locked into the gun

Just curious here, but if your 10 round mag is pinned into the receiver, how do you load it? :confused:
 
Just curious here, but if your 10 round mag is pinned into the receiver, how do you load it?

I think I saw on Wikipedia that you are to pop to back pin and rotate the upper out of the way. Then you can load the pinned mag with a stripper clip or something of that sort.

That would be annoying.
 
Calguns.net is your friend - in fact they have a whole FAQ out there.

work2shoot who said the bayonet made the upper illegal, is once again, wrong. I don't care how long you've lived here (I've lived here 41 years also) you really need to know that some MAJOR things changed in the last 3 years with a couple lawsuits, a court decision on "the list", and what is called "off list lowers". I also don't care about companies and their policies who have many reasons to support or not to support California (the largest guy buying marked in US by the way) - that is THEIR policy and NOT California Law.

For example - I could open a gun company and choose not to sell east of the Mississippi just because I don't want to - doesn't make it illegal.

Because we're forced to be - we've become very clever out here. For example - the law is VERY clear that a magazine locked in place by a "bullet button" or any "button" that requires a "tool" - which a bullet is defined as - is legal. So you want to reload your pistol gripped, evil featured black rifle - put one of a few brands of bullet buttons on it and reload that way.

You can drop mags clear the normal way if you don't have a pistol grip but instead chose a U15 or Monsterman grip (google them for pictures).

You are shipping this to the guys house not an FFL - IMO you are fine. You must decide but don't punish the buyer because he lives in Cali until you are very clear with the laws.

Again - the LOWER is the gun - it has the serial number and when your DROS it THAT is what is recorded. You can have 5 uppers for the same lower all configured differently.

Stop the FUD. Go to Calguns and read the FAQ.
 
Paradiddle,

I don't want to punish anyone, I just want to make sure my behind is covered. The consensus seems to be that I can ship it out to him no problem, but it is up to him in this case to make sure he conforms to CA law.

That works for me, thank you everyone again for all of the information I know more now about CA assault weapons law then I think i ever wanted to :neener:
 
I've always wondered why someone would ask those not in CA about CA laws.

BTW, work2shoot is just plain wrong.

The best resource and discussion about CA gun laws/gun politics is http://www.calguns.net

Again, your upper is completely legal in CA. The only problem in CA is that not enough uppers are coming in :) can you send more? <bseg>

This upper is legal to use both on a registered assault weapon, or on an off-list rifle configured to not be an AW described by a 12276.1PC generic AW definition.

Both you and the buyer are completely in the clear.



Bill Wiese
San Jose CA
 
I will stand corrected! It's been about three years since my last legal information concerning assault weapon configurations and I was using it as my reference which was correct but dated. I see as other members have pointed out pretty recently some ground has been won over what is Calif. legal as far as assault rifle configurations. So Im sorry Fullefect for shocking you with my some what out dated information. It's really complex out there so I tried my best to keep up and be informed because like your buyer there are a lot of California gun buyers who don't understand the complex (stupid) ambiguous (vague) laws in that state. I know because I was one of them. If I say no don't send it, and I did, others will say, and they have, Im wrong send it. I would look at some of the good threads on this question and that really good chart from fractal x and make a your own conclusion. I was a valid FFL dealer in California from 1984 to 1994. Things got way too out of control after '94, so I turned in my book but tried my best to keep up with their laws because guys like you, and me, worry if we're doing the right thing selling to a Californian.
 
I will stand corrected!

Not a problem, I rather get all sides of a story to shake out every detail. I'll be honest though, I'm glad your information was dated on this one lol :D

because guys like you, and me, worry if we're doing the right thing...

And all we can do is try to the best of our knowledge and hope CA can get themselves back some rights.
 
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