Gun Buyer's Guide
It's the repeating criminal, not the repeating rifle!
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THEN THIS IS FOR YOU! I know the divorce papers said something about a restraining order but I don't think ... Surely that old arrest and conviction back when I was a teen is off my record! I pled guilty to Disturbing the Peace not Domestic Violence! My probation is over so I'm okay to buy a gun, right? Applying to buy a firearm when you aren't certain if it really was expunged, sealed, past the time limit in the statute, or you aren't clear about something that the court did or didn't do can lead to legal difficulties including criminal prosecution. SB 255 (PC 12077.5) Provides a procedure for any person to obtain a determination directly from DOJ on that person's eligibility to possess a firearm. No person may require or request another to obtain such a firearms eligibility check. DOJ is authorized to charge a fee of $20 for conducting each check. Personal Firearms Eligibility Check Application Form (PC 12077.5) If your handgun of interest is not on the List of California Approved Handguns or exempt from SB 15, a gun dealer cannot sell it to you as a store owned handgun, (Law Enforcement are exempt only for duty handguns - letterhead required). Handguns not on this list may only be sold by dealers as consigned handguns or purchased or sold as a private party transfer.
Care enough to do something about it it? Then complain, write a letter, make a phone call, send an e-mail! TELL YOUR LEGISLATOR! |
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walk-ins okay up to 1 hour before closing. Valid for 5 years 30 question test - multiple choice, true/false Untimed - closed book - study booklet available @ $0.50 On a slightly different note, here is our test procedure... Our liberal legislature has written the HSC law to allow up to a four year imprisonment of store staff for acts of "collusion" (cheating) on the HSC - no punishment for test takers that cheat - they get a "do over". By comparison, you can get drunk, kill a family of four in an auto accident and get off easier! Where do the liberals have thier priorities? Harrassing gun owners and gun dealers obviously! Accordingly, in self defense, we have implemented the following Test Rules that we hope will allow us to avoid even the appearance of impropriety and permit us to continue serving you into the future: We will not answer any questions after the test starts. (If you need a new pencil, wave the broken one at us).
Please leave, cell phones, pagers, written material in your car as our store staff are not allowed to store them for you. You will need your CA ID card or CA Driver's License and $25. Study booklets may be purchased in advance for $0.50 plus tax. |
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Check the chart below for details and if you think we're making this up, call Ed Whorley or Paul Payne, the NRA lobbyists in Sacramento and see how defensive they are of their "certificate". The number is (916) 446-2455. If you agree with us please call the NRA and demand that they be removed immediately. The HSC isn't the only thing you're being screwed on! |
What the NRA gave them What you & I lost |
| NRA negotiated compromise | ||
| Full set of fingerprints on handgun buyers | Right thumb print only | Criminals are no longer the only ones who get fingerprinted. A full set can easily be written in later. What's next? Mug shots? Hey! With the NRA's history and tradition of compromising it's a valid question! |
| Written Test | Fine by us! | Another written test with up to a 4 year prison sentence for dealers who cheat. The legislature acts as if it is a chronic problem when we've never heard of even one instance! We believe that the Legislature is just inventing/looking for reasons to jail gun dealers. One employee can put a business out of business! |
| A Shooting Test | No shooting test | Nice of the NRA to say no. Why did the Dems agree? Because the NRA sponsored HSC law can easily modify this requirement into existence. Only dealers with range access could deliver a firearm. |
| A Safe Handling Demonstration | Fine by us! | Forces everybody that's not HSC exempt, experienced shooter or not, to perform a poorly written and confusing safe handling demonstration before they can take possession of their handgun. By the way, it takes on average 15-20 minutes of time and creates an additional administrative burden for gun dealers, resulting in a higher cost of handguns to you. |
| An expiration date | 5 years okay? | The Basic Firearm Safety Certificate which the HSC replaced, was good indefinitely. The HSC expires after 5 years. |
| Increased fee | 25% okay? | The BFSC which never expired and was available after an almost identical 30 question test cost $20. As of 2005 the HSC cost $25 and expires in 5 years. But wait! There's more! The $5 increase goes to DOJ and they do less work for it - we the dealers have to maintain the records for them! Wouldn't we all like to get paid more for doing less? (A BFSC issued in DEC 02 was no good in JAN 03 - no slack for gun owners!) |
| Registration of all your handguns | Only register the handgun being purchased | Apparently registering handguns in mass is unacceptable to the NRA but registering them one at a time is okay! Why did the Dems agree? Because the NRA sponsored HSC law can easily modify this requirement into existence and - WAKE UP! - they pretty much know what you have now anyway. Go ask any cop! The NRA blew a chance to fight for something important. |
| DOJ rated instructors to proctor everything | Fine by us - as long as we can make some money as an "Entity Recognized by DOJ as Providing Comparable Handgun Safety Training to Those Entities Specified by Penal Code section 12804(j)" | When dealers have to spend time and money to comply with the law, the cost is passed on to you, the consumer. Worse, DOJ has no funding at present (10/03) to qualify instructors. No instructors means no gun deliveries. Gun dealers are left at the mercy of "Entity Recognized by DOJ as Providing Comparable Handgun Safety Training ...". We at the El Cajon Gun Exchange have qualified at our own expense to train others and to date have provided training to many of our competitors, on request, at no charge. Your 2nd Am. rights are more important than our profits. |
| Fewer exemptions | Fine by us! | We lost Honorably Discharged Military, Hunter Safety Certificate, CA Hunting License, and more. They didn't even grandfather BFSC holders who already took and passed almost the same test! |
| We want to call it a "Handgun License" | Absolutely not! It must be called a "Certificate"! How else can we tell gun owners that we successfully kept a "Handgun License" from becoming a reality in California? After all, we don't actually want to lie about it, do we? | Finally a firm stand by the NRA! Let's see... It cost $25, you take a test to get it, you can't buy a handgun without it, it expires in 5 years... sounds like a license to me! Thank you NRA! We now have a Handgun License in California! |
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So you've picked out your handgun, purchased it, got your Handgun Safety Certificate (HSC), started the Dealer Record of Sale (DROS), purchased your Firearms Safety Device, or Lock Box, or Gun Safe, and all that's left is to show up at the end of your 10 day wait and take it home, right? Sorry, the Democrats have placed one last hurdle to clear and then you can take it home! This last hurdle is the Safe Handling Demonstration. You are exempt only if you have an HSC Exemption. Briefly, it consists of a short discussion of malfunctions, operational controls, DOJ safety recommendations, ammunition capacity, and an operational test using dummy ammunition. Our skilled staff will guide you through it - first discuss the operational controls and safety rules, then they perform the demo for you, and then prompt you through it. You also are allowed to refer to the book during the demo. If you mess up you get to do it again until you pass. Under our careful and knowledgeable supervision no one has failed a demo yet. Here are some thoughts to ponder relative to this demo. First, responsible gun dealers, (which includes all of the ones I know), care enough and are professional enough to go over this material with their customers as requested or as, in their opinion, it is necessary. For you skeptics, think of it this way...it's just good business. Besides, is there a shortage of lawyers willing to sue a merchant who delivers a product that can injure or kill without making sure that the customer is aware of the hazards? Second Before the Dems wrote a very confusing law telling us how to do our job, we were able to tailor our delivery process to match the gun and your level of knowledge. Since they wrote this very specific law, we now have to run our customers through a liberal "it's a little confusing but since it feels good it must be right" law regardless whether they need it or not. In other words, this law was written to correct a non-existent problem and does not make you or anyone else safer! Third when we get to the confusing parts, please stop us and ask questions as you need to. Our certified instructors will take the time to make sure you understand. Finally, there are limits to what can be acomplished sitting at a table, at some point you need practical hands on experience. Most of the area ranges can provide you with excellent training courses and we highly recommend you select one appropriate for you, your firearm, and your skill level. You will find links to some of these ranges at the bottom of our Legislative Page. Click here for links to local ranges Good Shooting! |
Rifles & Shotguns
You do not need an HSC, an exemption for an HSC, or a Safe Handling Demo for long guns - still, we will happily cover any security, safety, or operational concerns you may have so please ask! Remember, you can buy as many as long guns as you want at one time, only handguns are limited to 1 per 30 day period. |
All firearms must be delivered to the buyer within 30 days of the Dealer Record Of Sale (DROS) date. There is a 10 day wait for all firearms. This leaves a 20 day window to pick-up your gun. Failure to do so will result in DROS cancellation by DOJ, another DROS/safety tag fee, and another 10 day wait. Many gun stores will also charge a fee due to the administrative burden of doing the paperwork twice. At the El Cajon Gun Exchange there is a charge for "do overs", so don't be late. Pick-Up times: You can come in early, we can sell you something else, but you can't pick-up the gun until we get to your pick-up time. It goes down to the minute. Only the buyer can pick up a gun. No spouses, not Dear Abby, not even with a note from Mom. As the song says, "Only Youuuuu..." The Democrats that run California, (you Arnie fans should think twice before you say "Not anymore!"...), have limited you to one handgun purchase per 30 day period. It's actually a crime to try to purchase more than one. Even if it's just a miscount by one day. Apparently they are afraid of handgun buyers reselling handguns to the criminal element. You sign your life away to get it, it can be traced back to you instantly, and the Democrats think you are going to commit a felony to make a few dollars!?%? Police Officers, private party transfers, and consigned guns are exempt from the 1 in 30 day rule. |
How would you like it if the Legislature wrote a law forcing you to do an hour's worth of work for a $10 bill? That's what we thought, and yes, $10 is all we get from the fees - the rest goes to DOJ. |
| Private party transfers by law must be through a licensed dealer.
The fees are set by State law. All requirements as set forth in the law for a handgun purchase apply. (HSC's/exemptions, Safe Handling Demos, FSD/lock box/gun safe, etc. all apply) Both parties must be present and remain in the store until all the paperwork is done. We will not start a transfer until all required documents and ID's are present. Your gun is not insured - firearm is left entirely at your own risk. We will not incur overtime for private party transfers and we are not allowed to charge more than $10 for a store fee (DOJ gets everything else). Neither can we afford to rush, make mistakes, and have our livelihood threatened because of admin errors. Accordingly, requests for deliveries or transfers in the last hour of the business day will be deferred to the next business day. The law allows a storage fee. Accordingly we will charge a storage fee of $5 per day starting the 5th day after your pick-up date. This storage fee will accumulate until firearm is delivered. While we will never refuse a transfer, according to DOJ, we do not have to drop a paying customer or go into overtime to process one - and we won't. We are understaffed to the point that we have found it necessary to close Sunday's. Waiting in line is a way of life - even for paying customers. |
Why does it cost so much just to process a gun I bought from your competitor? |
| (Courtesy Transfer: Having us receive and process a firearm that was purchased somewhere else.)
Firearms Dealers have to contend with the same overwhelming laws that apply to any California business. They also have to comply with an annual avalanche of new laws specifically tailored to over regulate and harass the gun industry. We are acutely aware that many of our fellow Firearms Dealers have been unable to digest and apply all of the rules, laws, fees, implementing instructions, and tax laws from Federal, State, and local agencies and as a result the laws are sometimes applied or heeded haphazardly throughout the industry. We read the regulations for ourselves, talk to the enforcement and regulatory agencies, industry attorneys, and create store policies and practices, and pass on costs associated with those practices and policies accordingly. Thanks to over regulation it costs our store, on average, in excess of an hour and a half of time, the direct involvement of over six of our employees, over $100 in direct costs to process each firearm (not counting DOJ and Taxes) - to say nothing of sales lost because our employees are tied down with paperwork instead of tending customers. The firearm must be logged, stored, and processed through the State and Federal bureaucracies, double checked for errors by a supervisor at three different points in the process, (the Government is very unforgiving!), and stored for five to twenty years depending on the document. We have been forced to hire personnel specifically to keep track of the paperwork, fees, and taxes. Remember that this whole, clumsy, bloated process takes place under the threat of possible criminal prosecution and loss of livelihood for mere admin errors. Some dealers will take on Courtesy Transfers, (transactions that use up resources and incur risk without contributing to making a living), for very little in the way of compensation - and because they do not place the same emphasis on their paperwork as we do - their costs associated with processing your firearm are no doubt less. It is possible that this lack of emphasis could result in their not being here to serve you tomorrow. We intend to be here for the long haul. Please note that the dealer that sold you the firearm has not only already made his profit but only had to ship it to another dealer - us! - to get it; he gets the profit - we do all the work! If you would like another opinion on this, try buying a car from one dealer and then asking another dealer to do all the paperwork and the delivery. Good luck with that. May we make a recommendation? Try taking advantage of our economy of scale; ask us if we can get it for you through our sources. Sometimes a cheaper deal over there, isn't a cheaper deal over here after you add our store fees. Thanks for your consideration and please, support us, your local dealer today, so that we'll be here to support you tomorrow. |
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Peace officer (active California)
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CALIFORNIA CODE OF REGULATIONS CA DOJ EVIDENCE OF RESIDENCY DOCUMENTATION, Definitions and Requirements. http://caag.state.ca.us/firearms/dlrfaqs.htm#33G FAQ 33. What documentation is acceptable to demonstrate proof of residency for handgun purchasers?
"Utility bill" means a statement of charges for providing service to the individual's residence by either a physical connection (i.e., hard wired telephone connection or cable connection, or a water or gas pipeline connection) or a telemetric connection (i.e., satellite television or radio broadcast service) to a non-mobile, fixed antenna reception device. Residential lease that bears the individual's name and either of the following:
"Residential lease" means either of the following:
Property deed that bears the individual's name and either of the following:
"Property deed" means either or the following:
Current, government-issued license, permit, or registration, other than a CA Driver License or CA Identification Card, that has a specified expiration date or period of validity. The license, permit, or registration must bear the individual's name and either of the following:
Examples of acceptable proof of residency:
Examples of documents that are NOT acceptable proof of residency:
FAQ 34. What proof of residency are peace officers required to provide to the firearms dealer?
(PC section 12071) FOR ACTIVE DUTY NON-RESIDENT MILITARY Valid Military I.D. with copy of PCS orders - This covers ID, HSC, & proof of residence requirements. Active Duty Military who are CA residents will still need their valid CA CDL or ID. For resident aliens, we will require 3 months worth of utility bills in the buyer's name and showing the address as it will appear on the Dealer Record of Sale and matching the California Driver's License or ID. |
BATF, (no doubt hindered by Federal Gun Laws), isn't there yet... FEDERAL PEACE OFFICERS: CA DOJ has changed it's position on the 10 day wait as regards Federal Peace Officers. Federal Peace Officers are able to bypass the 10 day wait by having a letter, signed by the agency head (or designee) that states that the bearer is a Federal Peace Officer, that the gun is for duty use, that identifies the gun by make and model. Refer to DOJ Bulletin 2000-FD-06 of 12/12/2000, last item, last page. Federal Peace Officers may show a Dept. letter identifying their work address as their permanent assigned address for proof of residence. First, the good news... CA DOJ has changed it's position on addresses for Peace Officers and proof of residence requirements for CA peace officers. CA peace officers can show proof of residence with their CA peace officer ID's and may use their work address on all CA firearms paperwork. Now the bad news... per our local BATF Office , a residential home address is still required on 4473's. The 4473 is a federally regulated document and CA DOJ lacks the jurisdiction to waive the requirements. So the advantage of CA DOJ allowing the use of work addresses is lost. Unknown to us is whether this would require a change in Federal law or if a policy change by BATF would be sufficient. You may address inquiries on this to: San Diego I Field Office, Resident Agent in Charge, 1370 India Street, Room 300, San Diego, California 92101, (619) 446-0700, Fax: (619) 446-0759. A computer-generated hardcopy of the DROS information must be printed out when the DROS information is transmitted and signed by the purchaser and dealer. Signed DROS worksheets or computer printouts must be retained by the dealer in consecutive order for three years per PC section 12076(c). (DOJ probably keeps an electronic version somewhere in their system as well.) 4473's are required by law to be stored in gun store which generated it and kept on file for 20 years at which point the gun store may destroy them. Gun stores which go out of business are required to ship all 4473's to the BATF. To put your mind at ease, our staff is comprised in large part of retired U.S. Military and retired or former L/E Officers. Officer safety, (and for that matter the safety of our non-law enforcement customers too!), is not a new concept for us and we take the protection of all of our customer's personal data very seriously. Our customer records are accorded the same high security as our firearms. Feel free to address any concerns to Ron Godwin, manager. |
Where can I shoot? Where can I get additional instruction? |
| Key = I Instructors Available, HS Hunter Safety Course Available, RO Range Officers on duty, PC Private Club, OP Open to the Public, CCW course, TSC Trap/Skeet/Sporting Clays Course Available |
| Bruce Colodny - Firearms Lawyer | Trutanich & Michel, Attorneys at Law |
One last thing- Call your legislator!
Tell them it's the repeating
Criminal, and not the repeating Firearm!
E Mail Us!
