Giving Guns to "Immediate Family" in CA?

D

DougB

New member
I was in a gun shop today and was told that it is legal, here in California, to give (maybe even sell, I'm not sure) a gun to someone in your immediate family. I've considered buying my Father-in-law a gun as a Christmas or birthday gift, but he lives 1.5 hours away and doing the travel, DROS, 10-day wait, etc. would kind of spoil the surprise. But this sounds like I could buy one, give it to my wife, who could then give it to her father, all without an extra DROS fee or waiting period. And all legal. I was told that immediate family includes spouse, adult children, parents, and siblings. Is this correct? If so (and I certainly hope it is), can anyone give me a reference to the specific law? Thanks.

Doug
 
The provision is in the California Dangerous Weapons Control Law, Section12078(c). The recepient must not be prohibited from owning a firearm, must have a basic firearms safety certificate and the transfer must be reported to CA DOJ within 30 days. I think that transfer to your wife and her transferring to her father would be an obvious attempt to circumvent the law. Why not have your wife purchase the firearm herself? The Cal DOJ Firearms information page can be found at the following URL: http://caag.state.ca.us/firearms/
 
EODGuy,

Thank you. That was the information I needed. I've just printed out 27 pages of this law and am trying to understand it. It seems that reporting it to the DOJ and having a BFSC only applies to handguns. I think my wife could give or sell a rifle to her father without doing this, although I still need to read this more carefully.

Regarding this being an obvious attempt to circumvent the law, I'm not sure I care. That is, if I can LEGALLY flaunt the INTENT of the law, while following its letter, that wouldn't bother me. I think the law is unconstitutional and wrong. On the other hand, I suppose that if our lawmakers discover that they have left a tiny loophole that enables people to give firearms to family members without paying the $15 "processing fee" for each firearm transferred, they will probably move to close it. The more I learn about California firearms laws, the more clear it seems that, in many cases, their SOLE purpose is to tax and inconvenience honest gun buyers, sellers, and owners in order to discourage firearms hobbies.

Doug
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>The provision is in the California Dangerous Weapons Control Law, Section 12078(c). The recipient must not be prohibited from owning a firearm, must have a basic firearms safety certificate, and the transfer must be reported to CA DOJ within 30 days.[/quote]

I know you folks have it bad in CA, but this really brings it home. This set of requirements sounds like it belongs in a foreign country ... which Calilfornia increasingly resembles these days. Quite a shame.

Regards from AZ
 
Doug B,

You're right, The section I quoted pertains to handguns. I don't think there are restrictions on gifts of rifles to a family member as long as the recipient is not a prohibited person (felon, etc).
 
Jeff Thomas,

You're right. I have 5 more years until I can retire. That's when I tell my son that he has to move out of the condo in Tempe because I'm moving in.
 
Jeff,

Not to ruin your day too much, but the Kalifornians are moving your way ! ;)

Mostly though, they are escaping, so that is okay for you.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jeff Thomas:
I know you folks have it bad in CA, but this really brings it home. This set of requirements sounds like it belongs in a foreign country ... which Calilfornia increasingly resembles these days. Quite a shame.

Regards from AZ[/quote]
 
I read last month in the L.A. Times that 1999 was the first year that more people left CA than arrived. Three years to retirement and looking at NV and AZ big time. This state is run by a socialist elite with no real political end in sight. The only effective way to correct the situation is by convincing the Hispanic population that the Democrats are not the only party for them. Bust through the race bating and hammer the family values, hard work theme. Hispanic culture is proud and strong here, and the Republicans have work to do.

------------------
Safe shooting - PKAY
 
Since he is above you in the family tree, you can transfer it to him w/o the wife. Up and down transfers are legal and never require any paperwork as long as it's not a Roberti-roos or SB-23 type. Side to side transfers require a FFL unless it is a C&R.
 
Gentlemen,

I read this a few years ago in the Wall Street Journal that kalifornia will follow you after you retire and leave the state. They tax your retirement even though you have moved. After all they gave you tax breaks while you were in your major earning years and now they want some of that back. According to the WSJ, kalifornia was not the only state at time that did this. Ain't socialism great? I just hope our congresscritters put a stop to this as it sounds like involuntary servatude to me. Was that outlawed in our constitution?
 
EOD / Madison ... I know many Californians are headed this way. I'm sure most of them are great people, and probably more than a few are almost political refugees. Hopefully we get more logical ones than liberals ... ;)

And, this is no joke, we are getting some of their firearms over here. Not at all uncommon to see rifles at our gun shows that have been saved from the CA Gestapo / Attorney General.

Regards from AZ
 
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