Handguns are not registered?

[TonyNorCal]

I had assumed handguns were registered..yet the other day while reading the frequently asked questions on the DOJ site I saw that only assault rifles are registered? Is this correct? I had thought handguns were more closely monitored than long guns...perhaps because their purhase requires on to navigate more obstacles...I think I have also heard people say they are registered...but of course there is a great deal of misunderstanding regarding Cali gun laws...it does seem they are able to 'trace' handguns based on serial numbers...how does this work...do they use paperwork that was supposed to be 'destroyed'? Don' get me wrong, I am all for solving crimes, it's just that if a record exists of where a gun came from how is that so different than it being 'registered'? Are handguns easier to obtain info on via serial number than long guns?

Thanks for enlightening me

[fun2none]

It's a just spin on semantics of "register" . CA-DOJ doesn't register the guns, only the "sale" of guns. To my knowledge, only serial numbers of handguns are recorded in the California database.

If you are interested learning more, Google search CA CLETS AFS.

[Mssr. Eleganté]

The FAQ page at CalDOJ's web site is a bit misleading, albeit semanticaly as fun2none pointed out. Personal handgun importers and "assault weapon" owners are the only folks who have had to "register" guns on their own by turning in registration paperwork. But every time you purchase a handgun in California the Dealer you buy it from registers the handgun to your name via the DROS system. So technically, there are no registration requirements for you when you buy a handgun. But the handgun will be registered with CalDOJ in your name.

Now as to the tracing of firearms. If any type of firearm is found at a crime scene there are still ways to trace it, even if it isn't registered to you. Only the federal Brady background check is required to be destroyed after 24 hours. This is to prevent the federal government from maintaining any kind of registry of firearms owners. But by getting the serial number and manufacturer, or the serial number and importer stamped on every firearm, BATFE can trace a firearm from the manufacturer/importer to the distributer to the dealer to the purchaser via the bound book records that all FFL's are required to keep for 20 years. In theory, if the Feds had the time and manpower, they could track every firearm manufacutured or imported since 1968 (when the Gun Control Act came about) to the first private individual purchaser by using FFL's bound book records and form 4473's (yellow sheets). In practice, they only use this process for guns found during criminal investigations. And every time the trail of ownership ends at a private individual, BATFE has to rely on the cooperation and non-required records of sale that private individuals might want to give.

But in California, every single handgun legally sold in the last few (how many?) years is automatically registered with CalDOJ.

[Librarian]

But in California, every single handgun legally sold in the last few (how many?) years is automatically registered with CalDOJ.

I asked CADOJ- January 1, 1991 is the date for all handgun sales under DROS.

[Guest]

What is the definition of "registered"?

If handgun registration is defined as the requirement to keep the government informed of every handgun you own, where you store it, and if you sell it, then California does not have handgun registration. A place like New York City might indeed have registration, using this definition.

Imagine all the handguns in California that were purchased elsewhere and brought into the state without informing the CA DOJ. This was legal for immigrants to CA until very recent years. Those handguns are probably still here, and invisible to the DOJ.

I would speculate that the CA DOJ might have a record of perhaps half of the handguns in CA, and is not current on the location or ownership of many of those.

[Librarian]

Imagine all the handguns in California that were purchased elsewhere and brought into the state without informing the CA DOJ.

Include as well all those bought here before DROS was required. I bet DOJ knows about fewer than half - but if a handgun was transferred legally after 1991, yes, the DOJ knows about it.

Since we are not required to notify the DOJ if we move, unless DOJ cross-references with DMV (and I think they may, I've heard anecdotes of police checking a DL and getting back info that the person owns some number of handguns), residence now may be different from residence at time of purchase, and no official record of that is required.

Storage is not a necessary part of registration, though registration could be used to verify storage, if such requirement were imposed.