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Thread: RFI: California Compliant Revolvers

  1. #1

    RFI: California Compliant Revolvers

    I live in Washington state and will be spending time in northern California regularly for the foreseeable future. I want to hunt hogs and deer there, possibly with a S&W or Ruger revolver. I love pre-lock Smiths but I want to avoid any trouble that might come from bringing one into the state. What makes a revolver California compliant? Is an internal lock required? What am I overlooking?

    thanks,


    Okie John
    “The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
    "Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's

  2. #2
    Site Supporter OlongJohnson's Avatar
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    Start here:

    https://www.oag.ca.gov/firearms

    Calguns guys have to live and die by it, so they may have an FAQ or sticky.

    It's been awhile since I did a deep dive, but my general understanding is that the only thing to worry about with a "typical" handgun is magazine capacity. The "roster" of approved handguns applies only to new-gun sales. They haven't yet started banning existing legal handguns other than by mag capacity. However, they do define any semi-auto handgun that loads the magazine in a location other than through the grip to be an assault weapon, so AR pistolas are a no-go.

    I haven't traveled there with guns since all the ammo restrictions started to take effect. That would be the most likely sticking point, but it may actually be a breeze for non-residents. I've heard some discussions, but haven't actually read the regs.

    Also pay particular attention to storage and transport regs.

    CA.gov almost seemingly intentionally is extremely poor about publishing the latest info in any kind of digestible format, so you have to hack it out of the code bit by bit and hope you find everything you need. Or rely on a secondary source, or use such a source to organize your thinking and verify against the actual code.
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  3. #3
    Glock Collective Assimile Suvorov's Avatar
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    The roster ONLY applies to subjects/proletariates of the State of Kalifornia. You need not worry about it as long as you remain a citizen of Washington. People who move to Kalifornia from other states are NOT prohibited from bringing off roster handguns with them, they do need to register them with the DOJ however. Also pay attention to the lead ammo ban which is now effective though out the entire state.

  4. #4
    Site Supporter OlongJohnson's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Suvorov View Post
    Also pay attention to the lead ammo ban which is now effective though out the entire state.
    That's only for hunting, though, right? Training/target and defensive ammo is still allowed to be lead, I believe.
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  5. #5
    Glock Collective Assimile Suvorov's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OlongJohnson View Post
    That's only for hunting, though, right? Training/target and defensive ammo is still allowed to be lead, I believe.
    Yes, only for hunting but it used to be dependent on region and became state wide this year.

    For now.... I have ZERO doubt that leaded ammo will be banned for all purposes within 20 years.

  6. #6
    So it sounds like it's OK to hunt with a pre-lock S&W in California...

    Definitely tracking on the ammo issue.


    Okie John
    “The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
    "Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's

  7. #7
    Member SoCalDep's Avatar
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    Yes... bringing a revolver into CA is GTG... There is a reg requirement within (I think) 90 days or something like that if you live here. Boo.

    Laws are complicated and stupid, but there are a fair amount of “exceptions” even for the handgun roster.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by SoCalDep View Post
    Yes... bringing a revolver into CA is GTG... There is a reg requirement within (I think) 90 days or something like that if you live here. Boo.

    Laws are complicated and stupid, but there are a fair amount of “exceptions” even for the handgun roster.
    Thanks. I was hoping for someone in LE to weigh in.


    Okie John
    “The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
    "Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's

  9. #9
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    Even for a resident, revolvers are a bit less regulated in the sense that manufacturers are able to add new revolvers to the roster. There tends to be some lag, but for example a few of the new Colt variants have been added this year.

    Bringing things in, I'm not aware of any restrictions on revolvers. As stated above, someone moving here has a certain number of days to register everything. Passing through, shouldn't be any issues. Except of course that there is no pathway for non-residents to get a CCW, so it's pretty much keep it locked up except when on public lands which allow open carry. That's a patchwork, most federal lands are OK, somewhere on Calguns there's a letter from State Parks saying CCW is OK but not sure I'd try open carry in more heavily used parks, CDFW wildlife refuges (state, not federal) are mostly not OK with some hunting-related exceptions. Check Calguns, lots of good info there on regs.

    As stated above, the lead ammo ban applies only to "taking" of wildlife. So non-lead for hunting everywhere in the state as of last July 1. Reading it literally, non-lead for defense against critters although that one is the game wardens call. The regs clearly allow use of lead ammo for non-wildlife purposes but for now I'm recommending that during hunting season and in rural areas it's a good idea to carry only non-lead because some game wardens have poor understandings of the new regs. Of course if your intent is to hunt, then you have that answer. Look up any limits on what you can bring into the state as far as quantity of ammo, with my FFL03 and COE I have few restrictions, but pretty sure there are limits for most others.

    Location will matter a lot. Most of the northern tier of counties are California in name only (Jefferson, a state of mind), and rural counties in general are pro-2A. Be much more careful in urban and suburban areas. CHP does rotate city boys through the middle of nowhere a lot, so there can be differences in attitude between state and local LE.

    At last count we had something like 106 different firearms related laws, and about 15 more were signed into law this week and take effect at various points in the future. It's almost impossible to stay on top of. That said, don't let it scare you, some basic research and common sense will avoid issues. I've been carrying for quite a while now including in everything from major cities to backcountry wilderness and have never had the slightest problem. I've had some fascinating conversations about firearms with small town residents, including at a coffee place in Del Norte County where, after the cute young barista showed us photos of the elk she'd just bagged with a .300 Win Mag it turned out that every single person in the place was carrying. When I'm in San Francisco or Oakland or some trendy Marin suburb, the topic never comes up and most wouldn't understand.
    Last edited by Salamander; 10-13-2019 at 01:35 AM.

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