The guide · Updated August 2026
Buying a firearm in California
Everything the state requires, in the order you will actually hit it. Nothing here is our policy — it is California law, and it applies at every dealer in the state. We wrote it down so you are not learning it at our counter.
on every firearm
paid to CA DOJ
two attempts, walk-in
rolling, counted together
01 · What to bring
Three things, every time: a California DL or ID card, a Firearm Safety Certificate, and — for a handgun — proof that you live at the address on your ID. If any one of them is missing we cannot start the paperwork, and we would rather tell you now than after you have driven over.
If your ID says “Federal Limits Apply”
That card alone is not enough. Bring one of: a valid US passport or passport card, a certified copy of your US birth certificate, a Certificate of Naturalization, a valid Permanent Resident Card, or a valid foreign passport with a valid I-94.
And if the name on that second document does not match the name on your ID, bring the document that explains the difference — a marriage certificate, a dissolution of marriage, an adoption or name-change order, or a certificate or dissolution of domestic partnership.
02 · The ten-day wait
California requires ten days between the DROS submission and the moment a firearm can leave the store. It is not a shop policy, it is not negotiable, and it applies whether this is your first firearm or your fortieth. The clock starts when we submit — not when you order online, and not when you pay.
We text you the exact release date the moment the DROS clears so you are not counting days. Come back on or after that date, pass the safe-handling demonstration at the counter, and it is yours. If your DROS expires before you collect, a re-DROS fee applies.
Buying online does not shorten it
Paying here takes the firearm off the floor and puts it under your name immediately — that is what an online order buys you. The ten days still start at the counter.
03 · The handgun roster
California maintains a roster of handguns certified for sale. If a handgun is not on it, a dealer cannot sell it to an ordinary buyer — no matter how common the model is elsewhere in the country. Every handgun listed on this site carries an On CA roster tag, and if it does not carry that tag we cannot transfer it to you.
You will also see the same model in fewer configurations than the manufacturer offers. That is the roster at work, not us choosing not to stock it.
Three firearms per 30 days
Since 1 April 2026 you may apply for up to three firearms in any 30 days, counted together rather than one of each kind: handguns, semi-automatic centerfire rifles, and completed frames, receivers and precursor parts all draw on the same three. The window rolls — it is the 30 days ending on the day you apply, not a calendar month — and a pending DROS still counts. Shotguns and bolt-action rifles are not in the counted categories.
04 · Compliant rifles
A semi-automatic centrefire rifle that accepts a detachable magazine and has any one of a short list of features — pistol grip, adjustable stock, flash hider, forward grip, thumbhole stock — is an assault weapon under California law and cannot be sold here. There are two legal ways around it, and every compliant rifle on this site is one or the other.
Magazines are capped at ten rounds either way. Every rifle we list ships with compliant magazines, and reconfiguring a compliant rifle into a non-compliant one after you buy it is a felony — that one is on you, not us.
05 · Ammunition
Every ammunition sale in California requires a face-to-face transfer and a DOJ eligibility check, so ammunition cannot be shipped to you — by us or by anyone else. Buy it online here and collect it at the counter.
The check is $1 and runs at the register. If you already own a firearm registered in the state’s Automated Firearms System it usually clears in well under a minute. If you do not, the standard check takes longer and costs more, so it is worth doing your first ammunition purchase on a day you are not in a hurry.
There is no waiting period on ammunition and no quantity limit. A California DL or ID is required — out-of-state ID cannot buy ammunition in California.
06 · Buying from out of state
You bought it online, somewhere else
Send the seller our FFL. When tracking shows the package delivered to us, come in and we run the background check and the DROS exactly as if you had bought it here. Our incoming transfer fee is $70 per firearm, and the state’s $43 DROS is charged on top of it.
You live outside California
We ship the firearm to a licensed dealer near you and they complete the transfer under their state’s rules. Enter their details at checkout — we verify the licence against the ATF listing before anything leaves the building, and tracking goes to both of you.
Ammunition is the exception
We do not ship ammunition anywhere, to anyone. That is a California constraint on us as the seller, not a limit of your state’s law.
07 · What we cannot sell you
Handguns that are not on the DOJ roster. Magazines over ten rounds. Assault weapons as California defines them. Unserialised or self-manufactured firearms. And we cannot sell to anyone prohibited under federal or California law — Penal Code sections 29800–29835 and 30300–30325 set that out.
We also do not buy firearms from individuals and we do not take trade-ins. If a private-party transfer fails because both parties turn out to be prohibited persons, the law requires us to surrender the firearm to law enforcement.