Possible to Import a 9mm Luger Into CA From Out of State?

[grafals]

I'm a newbie to this forum and not a native Californian. I've searched but haven't found the exact answer to my question. If I missed it somewhere, I'm sorry.

As I understand it, 9mm WWII Lugers are okay for sale within CA from dealers and/or private parties. Under fed law, they are classified as C&R. However, in CA, they are not, just because they are 9mm?! And, they aren't on the non-evil gun list because Mauser isn't dumb enough to pay the toll to the state for a gun they no longer make?

So, am I correct that even though they can be freely bought and sold in CA, its impossible to buy one from an out of state FFL (or private party) and have it shipped to a CA FFL for delivery in state to a legal buyer who already owns several handguns including a 50AE?

Is that correct? If so, isn't that just about the stupidest thing anyone has ever heard of? Does the braintrust in Sacramento really think that a $1000 to $5000 70year old collectible handgun is going to be used in some criminal act or poses a threat? Better to facilitate more sales of $399 handguns than expensive museum pieces? And they wonder why there is a huge annual deficit?

The net effect of this seems to be that a nice matching number collectible in CA sells for a hefty premium over one sold in the other 49 states, since they are hard as heck to find here and getting increasingly scarce but the internet is crawling with beautiful examples in 49 states for sale all over the price range.

Can anyone correct me and tell me if there is some way to buy a 9mm Luger from out of state for legal delivery in-state through an FFL?

[beetle]

i think you are getting the different models of lugers mixed up.

all ww2 mausers in original form are OK to import into CA as a C&R. Since they are more than 50 years old they are classified as C&R and exempt from the roster.

However, Mauser did another run of lugers in the late 60s which are not C&R and thus subject to the roster. This remake of lugers look this like:



The caliber (9mm) has nothing to do with it. WW2 lugers are good to go, Luger remakes less than 50 years old are not easily importable.

[zinfull]

The 1960's Mauser Luger pictured is a C&R by the Fed's and can be imported. But the later model is not listed so it can not be imported. You can tell the difference by the bottom of the grip. The C&R "Swiss" model has a smooth forward grip where the other has the bulb grip.

jerry

[littlejake]

The greatest factor in driving up the price of most C&R handguns in CA is the extra hoops required by out of state sellers. It must process through a CA dealer for transfer to the buyer. An out of state dealer must be signed up with CA DOJ's CFLC system to ship to a CA dealer. Some just don't want to hassle with it. Some realize there's a good market in CA for C&R handguns -- and get signed up for CFLC. Out of state non-dealers can, in theory, ship to a CA dealer for transfer to the buyer -- but, many CA dealers will not accept a shipment from a non-dealer (dealer policy, not a legal restriction) Net result, C&R handguns get a premium price in CA. (And if one does find one out of state, the CA receiving dealer can charge whatever he wants for processing the transfer -- highest I've heard is $155 added to the cost.) There are some CA dealers who have much more reasonable processing fees. So, the trick is to find a good CA dealer to process transfers from out of state. (Or with a C&R license, you may buy them while physically out of state and self import them... reporting them on a form to CA DOJ (essentially registering them.))

If you find a pair of handguns -- a C&R license and a COE comes in handy because an FFL transfer is different than a PPT through a dealer; and you are restricted to 1 in 30 days unless you have both a C&R license and a COE.