Do You Have to Register a Gun in California?

You don’t technically have to register most guns in California, but the practical answer to “do you have to register a gun in California” is closer to yes than no. The state doesn’t use the word “registration” for handguns and ordinary long guns, yet every firearm you buy from a dealer, bring in from another state, inherit, receive from a parent or grandparent, or build yourself has to be reported to the Department of Justice, usually within a strict deadline.¹ Assault weapons are the one category with formal registration. Miss a deadline in any of these situations and you’re looking at criminal exposure, so the category your firearm falls into is what matters.

Dealer Purchases Are Reported Automatically

Buy a firearm from a licensed California dealer and you don’t file anything yourself. The dealer submits your information along with the firearm’s make, model, caliber, and serial number to the DOJ through the Dealer Record of Sale system during the mandatory ten-day waiting period.² This applies to both handguns and long guns.

The current DROS fee is $31.19 per transaction, collected by the dealer at purchase.³ It covers the background check and the ownership entry. Hang on to your receipt, but the DOJ database is what carries legal weight.

Private Sales Have to Go Through a Dealer

California doesn’t allow direct person-to-person firearm sales. If neither party has a dealer’s license, the sale, loan, or transfer must be run through a licensed dealer.⁴ Both parties show up in person, complete DROS paperwork, and the buyer goes through the same ten-day wait and background check as any retail purchase. You pay the DROS fee plus a handling fee that varies by dealer. Skipping the dealer can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the facts.

Moving to California With Guns: 60 Days to Report

If you move to California and bring firearms with you, the state considers you a personal firearm importer. You have 60 days from arrival to report every firearm you brought in, and the rule applies equally to handguns, rifles, and shotguns.⁵

The form is the New Resident Firearm Ownership Report (BOF 4010A), filed through the California Firearms Application Reporting System (CFARS) online or mailed to the Bureau of Firearms in Sacramento.⁶ The processing fee is $19 per firearm.⁷

Missing the 60-day window is a misdemeanor. Under aggravating circumstances the offense can be punished by up to one year in county jail or state prison and a fine up to $1,000.⁸ Sixty days moves faster than most new residents expect while they’re unpacking and dealing with the DMV. The state enforces the deadline.

Inheritance and Family Transfers

California allows some intrafamily firearm transfers without a dealer, but you still report the transfer to the DOJ. The exception covers transfers between parents and children and between grandparents and grandchildren.⁹ Siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles are not included; those transfers go through a dealer like any other private sale.

Inherited firearms and those transferred by court order use the same track. The recipient files a Report of Operation of Law or Intra-Family Firearm Transaction (form BOF 4544A) with the DOJ and must hold a valid Firearm Safety Certificate before the transfer is complete.¹⁰ The $19 processing fee applies.

Building Your Own Firearm

Self-manufactured firearms are legal in limited circumstances, but you have to apply to the DOJ for a unique serial number before you build or assemble the firearm. The application goes through CFARS and includes a background check.⁶ Once approved, you engrave the assigned number onto the frame or receiver.

Possessing an unserialized self-manufactured handgun can bring up to one year in county jail, a fine up to $1,000, or both. For rifles and shotguns the maximum jail time is six months. Each unserialized firearm counts as a separate offense, and enforcement in this area has been aggressive.

Assault Weapons: The Real Registration Category

Assault weapons are where California uses “registration” in the formal legal sense. The state has opened and closed registration windows over the years as the definition has expanded. The most recent window, for firearms newly classified under expanded feature-based tests, closed on January 1, 2022.¹¹

If you missed the window, you generally can’t register after the fact. Your options are to modify the weapon so it no longer meets the assault weapon definition, transfer it to a licensed dealer, or surrender it to law enforcement. Possession of an unregistered assault weapon is a wobbler: prosecutors can charge it as a misdemeanor with up to 364 days in jail, or as a felony carrying 16 months to three years in county jail and a fine up to $10,000. Not knowing about the deadline is not a defense.

What Doesn’t Have to Be Reported

Antique firearms, generally those manufactured before January 1, 1899, are exempt from most of California’s transfer and reporting requirements.¹ The federal definition under 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(16) controls what qualifies, and it also picks up replicas of pre-1899 firearms that use ignition systems like matchlock or flintlock.

Curio or relic rifles and shotguns more than 50 years old, as defined in federal regulations, are exempt from the private party transfer requirement.¹ Federal Curio and Relic licensees can import qualifying firearms under federal rules.¹² The exemption does not extend to curio or relic handguns, and it does not override the assault weapon registration requirements no matter how old the firearm is.

Reporting a Lost or Stolen Gun

California requires you to report a lost or stolen firearm to local law enforcement within 48 hours of when you knew or should have known it was missing. The obligation is independent of any other reporting requirement and applies to every firearm owner. Failing to report doesn’t only create legal exposure; it also leaves the paper trail pointing at you if the gun turns up at a crime scene.

What You’ll Need Before You File

For any of the DOJ reports above, have these ready:

A valid California Driver’s License or state-issued ID to confirm identity and residency.
Your Firearm Safety Certificate number. Without it, the DOJ will reject most submissions.¹⁰
Firearm details: make, model, caliber, barrel length, color, and serial number, taken directly from the markings on the slide, frame, or barrel.

Serial number or model errors will delay processing and prompt follow-up from the Bureau of Firearms. Check every character against the firearm before you hit submit.

Filing Through CFARS

CFARS is the primary channel for new resident reports, intrafamily transfers, and serial number applications for self-built firearms.⁶ Create an account at cfars.doj.ca.gov, pick the reporting type that fits your situation, enter the firearm and personal information, and submit. Paper forms mailed to the Bureau of Firearms in Sacramento are still accepted, but the electronic route is faster.

After processing, the state sends a confirmation letter or Notice of Firearms Possession. Keep it. That document is your proof the firearm is on record.

If Your Report Is Denied

A denial arrives through CFARS as a Notice of Denial that identifies the grounds.¹³ The usual reason is a prohibited-status flag in the background check system, sometimes based on records that are inaccurate or out of date.

You can review the records that triggered the denial and petition to correct them. Clear the issue within one year of your original application and you can resubmit through CFARS without paying the processing fee again.¹³ After a year, you start over and pay again. If you think the flag is a mistake, move on the correction quickly.

1
State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Frequently Asked Questions
2
State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Regulations: DROS Entry System
3
State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Regulations: Dealer Record of Sale (DROS) Fee (Emergency)
4
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 27545
5
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 27560 (2025)
6
Legal Information Institute. Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 11, 5511 – Online Reporting with CFARS
7
California Department of Justice. California Code of Regulations Title 11, Division 5 – Fees
8
Justia. California Penal Code 27500-27590 – Crimes Relating to Sale, Lease, or Transfer of Firearms
9
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 27875
10
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 31615
11
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 30900
12
eCFR. 27 CFR 478.118 – Importation of Certain Firearms Classified as Curios or Relics
13
Legal Information Institute. Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 11, 4040 – Applicant Denial Review Process