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Old 06-17-2012, 3:11 AM
Citadelonline Citadelonline is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by spencerk View Post
I purchased a firearm with 2 11 round magazines and i wish to know if they are legal for me to own. This thread has only further confused me. The details are as follows: the magazines are the ones that came with the firearm prior to 2000 and are the original factory mags. The gun was sold to me on consignment at a local gunstore and the owner or this store tells me it is legal for me to purchase the firearm and posess/use the mags that came with it because they were the original mags that came with the firearm and came with rhe firearm prior to the ban. He also told me this is the only legal way to get a hicap mag in ca nowadays and is becoming a very rare occurrence. I am inclined to believe him but worried because of how confusing the laws are written. Im in gunsmithing school and can make a block if necessary but would like to own the hicap mags if legally possible. Was i correctly informed? Or should i go to the shop and grab some aluminum to start milling out...

Any insight would be appreciated.
Your dealer is wrong.
Hi cap magazines are not illegal for you to own, but what matters is how and when you took possession. If they were sold to you after January 1, 2000, (unless you fall under the very few exemptions, eg. law enforcement personnel) the seller is in violation of the law. The law makes no exceptions for original factory or after market magazines even if they were sold with the firearm prior to the 2000 ban.

Your FFL should have held the magazines or modified them to accept only 10 rounds before you took possession.
You are going to be told to keep the mags as is and that it is not a violation to "buy" a Hi cap magazine since that term does not appear in the statute, but the spirit of the law infers otherwise.

Where you go from here is up to you, but to comply with the spirit of the law, your options are to either return the 11 rd mags to the seller and have them modify them so he/she can at least try to return to compliance with the letter of the law or 2: modify/block them yourself or 3: disassemble them.

As it stands, the gun shop you dealt with is in violation of state law. And while you can't "take back" a violation, if it were a shop I did business with I would make them aware of the hi cap mag ban statute and allow them to at least try to correct the mistake. Once they are informed on hi cap mag laws, they need to decide which option is the better alternative.

While it shouldn't be your burden to inform businesses of state law, if they're a good gun shop they should appreciate your help and concerns.
Mistakes/misinterpretations happen.