If you want to know whether you can legally buy a gun in California before you walk into a dealer, the state offers a firearms eligibility check in California called the Personal Firearms Eligibility Check, or PFEC. It’s a voluntary $20 request to the Department of Justice that tells you whether you currently qualify to possess firearms under state and federal law. The result is a snapshot: it confirms your status as of the date of the check, and every actual purchase still triggers its own separate background check.
What the PFEC Is and How to Request One
The PFEC is an inquiry you initiate yourself, not something a dealer runs. You complete the DOJ’s PFEC application with your full name, date of birth, address, and California driver’s license or ID number. A licensed California notary public must notarize the application. You then mail it to the DOJ along with a copy of your ID and a $20 fee paid by check or money order.1State of California Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Frequently Asked Questions – Personal Firearms Eligibility Check Program
The fee is non-refundable no matter what the answer turns out to be. If any field is blank or illegible, or the fee is missing, the DOJ will not process the application. Processing usually takes up to 60 days. You’ll receive a letter stating either that you were eligible to possess firearms as of the date of the check, or that you were ineligible.1State of California Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Frequently Asked Questions – Personal Firearms Eligibility Check Program
Two things about that letter matter. First, it’s not a permit and it doesn’t authorize a purchase. When you actually buy a firearm, the dealer still runs a full background check through the Dealer Record of Sale (DROS) system, and you still wait out the 10-day period. Second, eligibility can change. A new conviction, a psychiatric hold, or a restraining order issued after the PFEC was completed will affect any later purchase, regardless of what your letter said.
What Can Disqualify You
The PFEC searches the same databases used at the point of sale, so knowing the disqualifying categories tells you what the check is actually looking for. California maintains one of the longest prohibited-persons lists of any state, and some bans are permanent while others expire.
Criminal Convictions
A felony conviction under federal, California, or any other jurisdiction’s law is a permanent bar to firearm possession. Possessing a gun after a felony conviction is itself a felony.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 29800
Certain misdemeanor convictions trigger a 10-year prohibition. The list includes assault, battery, stalking, criminal threats, brandishing a weapon, and domestic violence offenses, among others. If you’re convicted of another prohibiting misdemeanor during that 10-year window, a fresh 10-year period starts from the new conviction.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 29805
Federal law adds a separate layer. A conviction for any misdemeanor crime of domestic violence carries a lifetime federal ban, even though California’s own prohibition for the same offense may run only 10 years.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts The federal ban effectively overrides the shorter state clock.
Mental Health Holds and Findings
A single involuntary psychiatric hold (commonly called a “5150 hold”) that leads to assessment and admission to a treatment facility results in a five-year firearm prohibition.5California Department of Justice. IB 2007BF-04 Mental Health Reporting Requirements Two or more such holds within a single year make the prohibition permanent.6California Department of Justice. Firearms Prohibiting Categories
A court finding of mental incompetence, or a conservatorship based on grave disability, can also trigger a ban. A finding of not guilty by reason of insanity or of incompetence to stand trial produces a permanent prohibition unless a court later specifically restores firearm rights.
Restraining Orders
An active domestic violence restraining order, workplace violence restraining order, or gun violence restraining order (GVRO) prohibits you from owning, buying, or possessing firearms for as long as the order stays in effect. If you already own guns when the order is issued, you must surrender them to law enforcement or a licensed dealer and give the court receipts confirming you did.7State of California Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Domestic Violence Restraining Orders and Gun Violence Restraining Orders
GVROs come in several forms. Emergency orders are short-term, temporary orders run until the scheduled hearing, and after that hearing a judge can issue a long-term order lasting up to five years.8Judicial Branch of California. Gun Violence Restraining Orders in California Family members, employers, coworkers, teachers, and law enforcement officers can all petition a court for one.
Controlled Substance Use
Federal law prohibits anyone who regularly uses a controlled substance from possessing firearms.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts That includes marijuana. Recreational marijuana is legal under California law, but it remains a Schedule I controlled substance at the federal level, so regular users are federally prohibited from buying or possessing firearms.
A revised federal definition that took effect in January 2026 narrows this somewhat. You must be using a controlled substance “with sufficient regularity and recency” to be treated as an active unlawful user. Isolated or sporadic use, or past use that has stopped, no longer triggers the ban.9Federal Register. Revising Definition of Unlawful User of or Addicted to Controlled Substance In practice, answering “yes” to the drug-use question on ATF Form 4473 will still result in a denial, and answering “no” when the truthful answer is “yes” is a federal crime.
The Point-of-Sale Check and 10-Day Wait
A PFEC letter does not shorten or replace the purchase-time process. When you buy a firearm from a licensed dealer, the dealer submits your information through DROS. The DOJ then searches the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), state criminal history records, mental health records, and the California Restraining and Protective Order System.10State of California Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. APPS Database
The DROS fee is $31.19 per transaction, which covers one or more firearms transferred to the same buyer at the same time.11New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Section 4001 – DROS Fees Dealers may add their own transfer fees on top.
Every buyer waits the full 10 days, calculated as ten consecutive 24-hour periods from the moment the dealer submits the DROS information, not 10 business days.12State of California Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Frequently Asked Questions Exemptions are narrow: licensed dealers, holders of special weapons permits issued by the DOJ, and peace officers with written agency authorization. Collectors who hold both a federal Curio & Relic license and a DOJ Certificate of Eligibility are exempt only for curio and relic firearms.
If the DOJ cannot make a determination within 30 days, the status changes to “Undetermined,” and the dealer can decide whether to release the firearm at their own discretion.13Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Open Letter to All California Federal Firearms Licensees Many dealers won’t release one without a clear approval.
If You’re Found Ineligible
Whether the finding comes from a PFEC or a denied purchase, the DOJ’s notice will state the reason. Common grounds include prior convictions, active warrants, unresolved mental health holds, or an active restraining order. Some prohibitions are temporary. A 10-year misdemeanor ban eventually expires, and a restraining-order prohibition ends when the order is lifted. Others, like a felony conviction, require affirmative legal action to resolve.
Correcting State Records
If a denial rests on incorrect records, such as a conviction that was actually dismissed or a case of mistaken identity, you can contact the DOJ with supporting documentation to request a review. For prohibitions tied to past convictions, restoring your rights usually requires petitioning a court. California recognizes certain out-of-state expungements and pardons as restoring firearm eligibility for nonviolent felonies, but only when the expungement or pardon also restored firearm rights in the state where the conviction happened.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 29800
Challenging a Federal NICS Denial
If the denial came through NICS rather than state records, you challenge it directly with the FBI. The preferred method is electronic: visit the FBI’s challenge portal, enter your NICS Transaction Number from the denied transaction, and upload supporting documents like a fingerprint card or proof of an expunged record. The FBI has 60 calendar days from receipt to respond with a final determination.14Federal Bureau of Investigation. Challenges / Appeals – Requesting Reason for and/or Challenging a NICS-Related Denial
If you’ve been wrongly denied or repeatedly delayed because your identifying information resembles that of a prohibited person, you can apply for entry into the FBI’s Voluntary Appeal File (VAF). Approved applicants receive a Unique Personal Identification Number (UPIN) to provide on future ATF Form 4473 submissions. The UPIN helps the system confirm your identity more quickly, though it doesn’t guarantee zero delays.15Federal Bureau of Investigation. Voluntary Appeal File
Federal Relief From Firearms Disabilities
When a federal prohibition applies, such as a federal felony conviction, the path to restoring rights runs through the U.S. Attorney General. You can apply for relief from federal firearms disabilities. The Attorney General may grant it after finding that you’re unlikely to pose a danger to public safety and that restoring your rights would not be contrary to the public interest. If the application is denied, you can petition a federal district court for judicial review.16GovInfo. 18 USC 925 – Exceptions: Relief From Disabilities Federal relief lifts only the federal ban; any independent state-law prohibition still applies.
Penalties for False Statements
Lying on ATF Form 4473, the federal form every buyer completes at the point of sale, is a felony carrying up to 10 years in federal prison.17Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal Prosecutors Aggressively Pursuing Those Who Lie in Connection With Firearm Transactions This covers misrepresentations about your criminal history, mental health, drug use, or whether you’re the actual buyer. Prosecutors pursue these cases even when the background check caught the lie and the sale was blocked. A denied transaction does not erase the crime of having submitted a false form.
Buying a firearm on behalf of someone who cannot legally purchase one, known as a straw purchase, is a separate federal felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. If the firearm is intended for use in a felony, terrorism, or drug trafficking, the maximum climbs to 25 years.18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 932 – Straw Purchasing of Firearms