California AG to Feds - No Dangerous Guns for You

[JALLEN]

The Approved Handgun Roster is a compilation of guns that can be sold at retail to ordinary citizens. Those guns have the required features and have been tested to meet CA requirements. LEOs can buy guns not on the list. Once a LEO buys a non-approved firearm, it can be sold to anyone. Only approved firearms can be listed on CCW permits, and only 3 can be listed at a time.

All she appears to be doing is restricting sale of non-approved guns to state LEO's, if that. Frankly I wish the manufacturers would ban sales to CA, but that is a different discussion.

yes but that list also limits imports in to the state, meaning they can buy them but cant have in ca

Actually no. If you move to CA, you can take non-approved firearms with you, and keep them, or sell them when you get there to anyone you want. You just cannot buy a new one at retail. You cannot carry an unapproved firearm if you could get a CCW permit.

I did this with a HK45. I lusted for an HK45 after fondling one at the Cabelas up the road a few years ago. I put out the word, to my LEO friends, that I was a buyer with ready money. Months and months later, a LEO needed some quick cash for a vet bill, and offered me an unfired HK45. Perfectly legal, went through DROS, ten days later, I had an HK45.

When we got an offer on the house about a year ago, I realized that it would be terrible to take this gun, now legal in CA, out, so I offered it up on CalGuns, which touched off a foodfight for dibs on it. I can buy another one here, no problem (except for ammo!). Of course, then that offer fell through and I was HK45-less. Ah, well.

A person who plays his cards right, faced with a move to CA, could conceivably cover some or all of the costs of moving by some well thought out acquisitions, to be resold once there, almost always for a premium, depending on how popular. This is handguns only. Also ten round magazines are the max, no taking real ones into CA! I don't know how many sales you can do without being termed a dealer, which might be a problem.

[SQLGeek]

A person who plays his cards right, faced with a move to CA, could conceivably cover some or all of the costs of moving by some well thought out acquisitions, to be resold once there, almost always for a premium, depending on how popular. This is handguns only. Also ten round magazines are the max, no taking real ones into CA! I don't know how many sales you can do without being termed a dealer, which might be a problem.

Hmmmmmmm....if I ever move back I may have to talk with you first.

[RogueUSMC]

The XDS is not legal for sale in California because it can fire a chambered round with the magazine removed...

[The Annoyed Man]

The XDS is not legal for sale in California because it can fire a chambered round with the magazine removed...

Interesting. I didn't realize they had the magazine disconnect requirement.

[SQLGeek]

The XDS is not legal for sale in California because it can fire a chambered round with the magazine removed...

And yet Glocks are allowed because they are essentially grandfathered on and will stay on as long as Glock keeps paying a fee. That makes a whole lot of sense.

[JALLEN]

Every approved firearm has been tested by an independent lab to meet all the various requirements. The manufacturer has to supply 3 of each model, I think and pay for the testing. The approval is good for so many years, then must be renewed. If the model changes, well, back to the test lab.

The HK I lusted for either doesn't pass the test or HK didn't want to be bothered to have it tested. Some makes/models are similarly not on the list.

[The Annoyed Man]

I just checked......even my "low capacity" XDS is not legal in California.

Yup...your case should have a sticker "Not Legal in California" and give the reason below it is not inclusive on the roster.

OK......I finally got up the juice to winch my fat butt outta the chair long enough to actually go look at the case. You're right, there is a sticker on the side opposite the manufacturer information sticker, which says "NOT LEGAL IN CALIFORNIA" in 72 pt type, but no explanation below that as to why it is not included on the roster.......not that I care a whole hill of beans. In the event that I drive to California again, I will take it with me. I checked with a California LEO friend of mine since I last posted. Here is our exchange:

Hi Frank,

Gots a question for you.... If a gun is not on California's official roster of permissible handguns, can it still be brought into the state for temporary travel protection? I'm asking because my EDC has become a Springfield XDS, and even though it is a "low-cap" pistol, it is not on the approved list because it lacks a magazine disconnect. Pretty much all of my semiauto guns lack a magazine disconnect. If that's a disqualifier from bringing into California, then I'm reduced to a snubnosed scandium .357........not a shabby gun, but not my first choice. Is the lack of a magazine disconnect a reason to not bring the gun in with me, so long as I leave with it when I return home?

The reply:

Hi TAM,

Off roster is not a bar to importation on a temporary, or permanent basis. Mags with a capacity of 10 or less are a must. That the pistol may or may not accept mags with capacity greater than 10 is not an issue. If the pistol fell into the definitions of an AW or had a threaded muzzle it would be a no go to bring in, even temporarily.

Hopes that helps.

Frank

In a previous question I had for him a couple of years ago about transporting guns in California, he had answered with this:

Hi TAM.... not that it's going to be a pleasant trip for you, but welcome back to CA. You ask some good questions so I'll try for good answers.

It doesn't matter whether your chosen gun is on roster or not so far as bringing it into the state temporarily. So long as you don't bring any mags that hold more than 10 rounds (instant felony when crossing the state line) your handguns are fine if otherwise legal where you bought them. The only exception I can think of off the top is a threaded (as in to accept a suppressor) barrel. That would be a bad thing to bring in to California. If you have an otherwise stock M&P 45 or M&P 340, you're good to go so bring them.

You'd only have to report importing a handgun into the state if you establish residence and move here. Otherwise, no worry.

Nevada is an open carry state, yes , but doing so in most of Clark County (Las Vegas) is frowned upon by local ordinance. Don't open carry on or around any of the Vegas hot spots or you will likely have a less than pleasant encounter with Las Vegas Metro PD. If your Texas permit is recip in Nevada, just go concealed. Arizona is open carry and no one bats an eye there.

California still allows you to CCW without permit on your own property or place of business. Inside your mom's property would be exempt from the Gun Free School Zone (state and federal) if there happens to be a school within 1000 feet. If you are hotelling it, the law does allow you to keep a loaded, concealable firearm in any temporary domicile, which includes a hotel room. I always have a loaded pistol in my hotel/motel room when I travel, unload it and take it with me in a locked container when I go out.

Ammo... there are no illegal rounds in CA, except tracers and chemical agent rounds. I stoke Pamela's Model 19 snub with 130 grain Gold Dot short barrel 38 +P. Both the rounds you mention are over the counter here. Bring 'em.

Traveling around with the gun.... unloaded and in a locked container is how it's done. The exemption lives in 12026 of the Penal Code. The locked trunk of a car = locked container. Glove box does not = locked container. An attache case with combo lock = locked container. The locked container covers you when passing through the magical 1000 foot from the boundary line of a school.... which are invisible and not marked in any way.

Loaded mags, or charged speedloaders in the same container with the gun, in the car or on your person DO NOT = loaded weapon so long as the gun lives in it's locked container. There is abundant case law on point. You can keep a shotgun in the car with ammo on a sidesaddle or buttcuff and the gun IS NOT loaded. If charged mag is NOT inserted in the butt of the pistol + NO round is chambered = NOT loaded.

There is a great deal of bad info, including still some LEOs, out there on this point about mags or loaders being present = loaded. That is crap, and we spend a lot of time out here educating on that. Case law, good statewide, covers that.

Should you want to try unloaded open carry, please don't. The field is littered with mines and it tends to [irritate] the po-po even though it's perfectly legal under state law. The gun free school zones are everywhere and there have been a couple of high profile cases, including one in LA county, where open carriers have been racked for school zone violations and convicted.

Hope all this helps and let me know if I raised more questions than I answered.

Cheers!!!!!

Frank

I believe that California made sure that public unloaded open carry is also illegal statewide since 2012, although I think that OC on private land away from public contact might still be OK.