12276.1 (a) QUESTION/HELP

[EZ G]

Hello all. I need a little help. I have a pistol I sent off to a gunsmith to thread and permanently attach a muzzle brake to. The gunsmith was perfectly ok with the order when placed. Now however they are tripped up on 12276.1 (a) and are refusing to do the job.

It seems obvious to me that the "capable of accepting" is nullified when a muzzle brake is welded in place i.e. it is no longer capable of accepting in that case. I have pointed this out but they want more documentation on the issue before they will consider doing the job. I am a little annoyed as it is not cheap to ship to them and ship back to me and the whole point of doing it was for this.

If anyone can help me with additional information (other than the plain text of 12276.1) to support that this is perfectly ok I would appreciate it.


12276.1. (a) Notwithstanding Section 12276, "assault weapon" shall also mean any of the following:
(4) A semiautomatic pistol that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any one of the following:
(A) A threaded barrel, capable of accepting a flash suppressor, forward handgrip, or silencer.
(B) A second handgrip.
(C) A shroud that is attached to, or partially or completely encircles, the barrel that allows the bearer to fire the weapon without burning his or her hand, except a slide that encloses the barrel.
(D) The capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some location outside of the pistol grip.
(5) A semiautomatic pistol with a fixed magazine that has the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.

[Hayashi Killian]

Ok. Here's what you need to tell them.

1. Are they threading the barrel? If yes, move to 2. If not, then there's no concern over 12276(1)(a).

2. If they are threading a barrel, are they attaching a flash suppressor, forward handgrip or silencer/suppressor? If yes, this is a violation of 12276(1)(a) (note that a flash suppressor != muzzle break). If no, move to 3.

3. Will the non-listed device be permanently affixed to the barrel by means of welding, pinning or other means that would require serious work to undo? If so, then this is legal, as the barrel is not actually threaded. If not, then it is illegal since it could be adapted to fit any of the listed devices.

[CHS]

Ask him, after the barrel is threaded and the brake is welded on, is the barrel still "A threaded barrel, capable of accepting a flash suppressor, forward handgrip, or silencer"?

No, it's not.

The barrel has no capacity to accept a flash suppressor or anything else.

[EZ G]

Thanks all. I have done the above (although not as succintly as Hayahsi : )

I am awaiting their response and looking for additional documentation that they can rely on. I have been unable to find anything more here and was hoping that a fellow calgunner, similarly situated, had something that worked for them.

And just to make clear, at all times the job was for them to thread the barrel and a MUZZLE BRAKE (not a flash hider) was to be permanently installed prior to shipping back to me. I preferred it to be welded rather than blind pinned (which they offered as an alternative initially.)

At this point I would even take the blind pin as I will never be taking the thing off while residing in this state anyway.

If anyone has anything that has worked for them in the same situation (Logic aside : ) I would appreciate it.

[Greg-Dawg]

Don't you just love CA gun laws?

[Hayashi Killian]

For reference, it's only considered a threaded barrel once the threading is created until something is permanently affixed to the barrel. If they send you it back threaded, then that would be a violation.

[CHS]

If they send you it back threaded, then that would be a violation.

No it wouldn't.

It would be perfectly legal.

It would only be a violation if and once the barrel was installed in a semi-automatic handgun that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and not registered prior as an AW.

You are allowed to own threaded barrels for pistols. You can even *GASP* mail-order them.

[McCrown]

Wasn't there an issue once with P 22s that the DOJ said it was ok just to permanently attach a cap to the threads to make legal?

[leelaw]

Wasn't there an issue once with P 22s that the DOJ said it was ok just to permanently attach a cap to the threads to make legal?

The P22 came with a threaded muzzle which was used to hold on the muzzle cap, which was threaded on. The cap had to do with part of the disassembly (I'm not sure on this - never owned one)

There were two fixes to it:

1. Disassemble the pistol.

or

2. Send it to the factory, where the muzzle cap will be essentially epoxied in place.

[longarmshortlegs]

The time from when the threads are created until the part is wielded would violate.

WHy not just tell them to take gun apart, do the work with just barrel, and then put back together. Nothing illegal about a barrel all by its lonesome.

12276.1. (a) Notwithstanding Section 12276, "assault weapon" shall also mean any of the following:
4) A semiautomatic pistol that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any one of the following:

Not "or".

[EZ G]

Thanks for all the input. The pistol is a ruger 22/45 so it cannot really be considered not a pistol when it is separated.

However, the smith is out of state and it is perfectly fine for him (at all stages of the custom job) to do the work in that state. The only issue would be if the pistol was sent back without a permanently attached muzzle brake.

What i am running into is an out of state vendor/smith (big name by the way) who does not want to risk running afoul of our silly laws. I can't really blame them but I did outline all of this before we agreed on the work and I sent them my gun.

Really need something more than logic and anecdotes. Although I will be forwarding them everything I can re the walthers. Thanks again and keep it coming.

[bwiese]

Answers to your question:

1. In CA, semiauto pistols w/detachable mags cannot have threaded bbls.

2. In CA, a semiauto pistol probably should not have a flash hider
(murky law, probably defendable;l flash hiders are addressed in pistol
AW law by means of attachment as opposed to their intrinsic state).

3. In CA, muzzle brakes/compensators are not banned. They should,
however, not *screw* on to a threaded bbl - so things like being
pinned/welded (the bbl w/modified muzzle is now a one-piece device)
or using a "ball detent lock" (like the Professional Ordnance Carbon15
did in the late 1990s to avoid Fed AWB status) are legal.

4. If your gunsmith balks find another. This is not hard work and could
even be done locally.

[CHS]

Really need something more than logic and anecdotes. Although I will be forwarding them everything I can re the walthers. Thanks again and keep it coming.

Just take the pistol to Randall or one of 100 other local gunsmiths who can do the work and won't be afraid of not violating the law.