The California pistol magazine limit is 10 rounds. Any ammunition feeding device that can accept more than 10 rounds is classified as a “large-capacity magazine” under state law, and most people cannot legally buy, sell, import, manufacture, or assemble one.1California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 16740 – Large-Capacity Magazine Definition The rule is the same for pistols and rifles. Possession of magazines lawfully acquired before the ban or during a brief 2019 window is currently protected by a federal court stay while the Supreme Court considers whether to take the case.
What the 10-Round Limit Covers
Penal Code § 16740 defines a large-capacity magazine as any feeding device with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.1California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 16740 – Large-Capacity Magazine Definition Caliber doesn’t matter. Whether the magazine is loaded doesn’t matter. If it can physically hold 11 rounds or more, it’s covered.
Three types of devices are excluded from the definition:
- A feeding device that has been permanently altered so it cannot hold more than 10 rounds.
- A tubular ammunition feeding device designed for .22 caliber rimfire ammunition.
- A tubular magazine built into a lever-action firearm.
The first exception is the useful one for pistol owners. A magazine modified with a permanent block that physically prevents it from accepting more than 10 rounds is no longer a large-capacity magazine under the statute.
What’s Prohibited
Penal Code § 32310(a) bans manufacturing, importing into California, keeping for sale, offering for sale, buying, receiving, giving, or lending any large-capacity magazine.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 32310 Private transfers count. Handing one to a friend, lending one at the range, or completing a private sale is treated the same as a gun store selling one.
The law reaches parts too. Section 32310(b) defines “manufacturing” to include assembling a magazine from individual components such as the body, spring, follower, and floor plate. Buying the parts separately and putting them together into a working magazine over 10 rounds is treated as manufacturing.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 32310 A separate statute, § 32311, has since 2014 banned the manufacture, import, sale, or gift of “conversion kits” capable of converting a smaller feeding device into a large-capacity magazine. The line between a conversion kit and a repair kit for a magazine you already own is not always clear, and that ambiguity creates real risk for anyone buying magazine components in California.
Possession: What the Courts Have Done
Section 32310(c) also prohibits simple possession, but enforcement of that subsection has been blocked by federal courts for years. The prohibitions on buying, selling, importing, and manufacturing have not been blocked and are fully enforceable.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 32310
The pivot point was a seven-day window in 2019 known as “Freedom Week.” From March 29 to April 5, 2019, a federal district court ruling in Duncan v. Becerra struck down the possession ban, and California residents could legally purchase and import large-capacity magazines. Hundreds of thousands entered the state during that period.3California Rifle & Pistol Association. CRPA Alert – Moving Forward with Large Capacity Magazine Court Ordered Stay
The case, now called Duncan v. Bonta, has moved back and forth between courts since. As of April 2025, a court stay protects possession of magazines lawfully acquired during Freedom Week or before the original ban took effect. Buying or importing new magazines remains illegal under the current orders; the protection covers only what people already had.
A petition for certiorari was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in August 2025. It asks whether banning commonly owned feeding devices violates the Second Amendment, and whether confiscating lawfully acquired property without compensation violates the Takings Clause.4Supreme Court of the United States. Docket for 25-198 – Duncan v. Bonta As of early 2026, the petition has been distributed for conference multiple times without a grant or denial. The stay protecting Freedom Week magazines remains in place until the Court acts.
Penalties
The statute treats trafficking-type offenses much more seriously than possession.
Manufacturing, Importing, Selling, or Transferring
A violation of § 32310(a) is a wobbler. Prosecutors can file it as a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in county jail, or as a felony carrying a state prison term of 16 months, two years, or three years.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 323105California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 1170 – Sentencing Each magazine can be a separate count.
Possession
Possession under § 32310(c) is charged either as an infraction with a fine up to $100 per magazine, or as a misdemeanor with a fine up to $100 per magazine, up to one year in county jail, or both.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 32310 The possession ban is currently unenforceable against people whose magazines were lawfully acquired before the ban or during Freedom Week, pending the outcome of Duncan v. Bonta.
If You Already Own a Non-Compliant Magazine
Section 32310(d) originally gave residents three compliance options before the possession ban took effect on July 1, 2017:
- Remove the magazine from California by taking or shipping it out of state.
- Sell it to a firearms dealer holding a valid California license.
- Surrender it to any law enforcement agency for destruction.
A fourth option comes from the definition statute itself: permanently modify the magazine so it cannot hold more than 10 rounds. The California Attorney General has published detailed regulations on acceptable modification methods, including inserting a rigid magazine block and permanently epoxying or riveting it in place.6California Attorney General. Text of Regulations – Large-Capacity Magazine Permits A magazine altered this way is no longer a large-capacity magazine, so the ban no longer applies to it.
Who Is Exempt
Several narrow categories can legally possess and use large-capacity magazines. The exemptions run through Penal Code §§ 32400–32450.
- Federal, state, county, and city agencies charged with enforcing any law, for authorized official use by their employees on and off duty.7California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 32400 – Exceptions Relating Specifically to Large-Capacity Magazines
- Peace officers who honorably retired from a state or federal sworn law enforcement position and were authorized to carry a firearm during their service, under § 32406.8California Legislative Information. SB 1446 Senate Bill – Chaptered
- Licensed firearms dealers and gunsmiths, who may receive a large-capacity magazine for maintenance, repair, or modification and return it to its owner.
- Armored vehicle companies and their authorized employees, while acting within the scope of that work.9California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 32435 – Armored Vehicle Exemption
The exemptions are narrow. A retired officer who was not authorized to carry during service, or an armored vehicle employee acting outside job duties, would not be covered. A dealer can service a magazine you already own, but cannot sell you one.
Driving Through California From Another State
If your home state allows magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, federal transport protection is thinner than most travelers assume. The Firearm Owners Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. § 926A, lets a person not otherwise barred from possessing firearms transport them between two places where possession is lawful, even through states with stricter laws, provided the firearm is unloaded and neither the firearm nor ammunition is readily accessible from the passenger compartment.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 926A – Interstate Transportation of Firearms In vehicles without a trunk, the items must be in a locked container other than the glove compartment or console.
Section 926A refers to “firearms” and “ammunition.” It does not mention magazines. Whether its safe-passage protection extends to large-capacity magazines in a state that bans them is legally uncertain. Relying on FOPA alone while transiting California with prohibited magazines is risky. The safest approach is to leave magazines over 10 rounds out of the state entirely. If they must travel with you, keep them unloaded, locked in a container in the trunk, and separate from any firearm, with the understanding that even those precautions may not guarantee protection under California law.