Reddit reviews California Firearm, Knife, and Weapon Law Compendium - California Gun Law, Knife Law, Laws Regarding

Ok, this is gonna be long, but it'll be worth it.

I live in California, I'm a gun owner, and I've done extensive research on the topics touched on in this thread.

First off, I urge you to buy a copy of this book, as it will provide most of the answers you will be looking for.

Here we go. To answer your main question, it is a "wobbler" (a crime that can be charged as either a misdemeanor or felony) in California to import, assemble, sell, offer for sale or transfer, or otherwise transfer an assembled magazine capable of holding more than 10 rounds to anyone not a Sworn Peace officer, licenses armed guard, or firearms dealer with a specific license issued by CA DOJ.

What does this mean? This means that any pistol you buy (legally) is going to come with magazines that are designed to hold 10 rounds (most reputable manufacturers make dedicated 10 round capacity mags for current manufacture pistols). Pistols that came with >10 rounds and were not manufactured after ~1994 you are going to get an aftermarket magazine, or in some rare cases a magazine that has been pinned or otherwise permanently altered to only hold 10 rounds or less.

If you possessed (in California) magazines with a >10 round capacity prior to January 1, 2000 it is perfectly legal for you to possess, carry and use those magazines. It is also perfectly legal for you to loan them (short term, vague legal wording, I take it to mean like in your presence) to anyone else who may legally possess a firearm.

It is also legal for you to order and possess repair parts for your legally possessed >10 round magazines, including complete "repair kits" consisting of all parts for a magazine, as long as you do not assemble them into new magazines.

Now this is just hypothetical, but if you were to assemble one of those repair kits into a new magazine with a >10 round capacity, the State must prove that you did so within the last 3 years. The statute of limitations for manufacture, import, sale, or transfer of a >10 round capacity magazine is 3 years from the date of the crime. As I mentioned earlier, it is a "wobbler", so you could be charged with either a felony or a misdemeanor, mostly depending on the local DA.

There is also speculation that it is legal to buy a >10 round magazine, as the relevant law (PC 12020(a)(2), I know it's PC12020, but I'm not certain about the section) does not specifically prohibit purchase, but to my knowledge no one has ever tried that defense in court.

Handguns that are not on the safe handgun roster cannot be sold by an FFL, with one exception: a Single Shot Transfer (SST). If you can find an FFL willing to do a SST for that firearm, you can buy pretty much anything, assuming it can be altered to be single shot. An SST is where the dealer alters the firearm to a single shot configuration before transferring the firearm to you (this generally means they swap the barrel with something that is long enough to meet the SST length requirement, and a "zero capacity" magazine (one that will not accept cartridges). Once you legally own the firearm it is perfectly legal for you to put the pistol back into its factory configuration, or to have the FFL do so on your behalf (they usually will sell you the conversion parts with the gun and then offer to buy them back for the same price).

Also handguns not on the roster can be legally purchased from a private party, or can be gifted to you by a parent or child living out of state (assuming the child is 21+).

The gun laws here suck, but they're generally not as bad as people (including FFL's, don't assume that they know anything about the law just because they can sell guns) make them out to be.

If you want those laws changed, vote for candidates that will do so, and donate to the CalGuns Foundation and the Second Amendment Foundation. Those organizations are actively working to make our shitty gun laws better.

Edit:
The handgun roster requires 3 guns of each model and 1200 rounds for each gun to be submitted by the manufacturer of testing to an approved California Handgun Safety Test Center, along with a $600 fee per gun. If any of the three guns fails any part of the test the manufacturer must resubmit all three guns, and another 1200 rounds and $600 per gun to have them retested. After certification, the manufacturer must pay $200 per year for each model to maintain the certification. It's a huge and arbitrary mess. Many manufacturers just don't find it worth getting a model that does not sell like hot cakes certified. Also to be added to the list after 2006, all models must have a loaded chamber indicator and a magazine safety disconnect. Models on the list prior to 2006 are exempt as long as the manufacturer pays the extortion maintenance fee every year.

Yeah, I'm from California. There is actually nothing that states that a rebuilt mag has to have any original parts, you just have to end up with the same number of assembled mags you started with.

For California Gunny's I really recommend this.

PS, shit has it been a year already? Didn't even notice!