What would happen if pulled over and had an uregistered firearm(s)?

[doubletap0]

apologies if this topic has been covered in any way, but what would likely happen if you were to get pulled over and had unregistered firearms in your vehicle and was caught with them? obviously, jail time and im sure heavy fines and such, but does anybody know the steps as to what would happen? also, what would happen if you were a registered gun owner? would the doj take your permits away forever or a fine? was thinking out loud and actually had no idea what would happen if this situation arose. thanks in advance!

[RickD427]

apologies if this topic has been covered in any way, but what would likely happen if you were to get pulled over and had unregistered firearms in your vehicle and was caught with them? obviously, jail time and im sure heavy fines and such, but does anybody know the steps as to what would happen? also, what would happen if you were a registered gun owner? would the doj take your permits away forever or a fine? was thinking out loud and actually had no idea what would happen if this situation arose. thanks in advance!

Doubletap,

Please check out the DOJ website's "Firearms" page. Your posting shows several very inaccurate understandings of the law. The DOJ page has a lot of helpful information, and I think you would benefit from it.

To answer your questions directly, if you were pulled over with a bunch of unregistered firearms, and those firearms were legally carried and legally configured, and you were not a prohibited person, then nothing is gonna happen. Nothing, Zip, Zero, Nada.

What "DOJ Permits" are you talking about?

[Vlad 11]

Plenty of unregistered firearms legally owned.

Even more unregistered gun owners out there

[Steel Panda]

all my rifles are unregistered. registration wasn't required until Jan 2014.
i don't need or have permits for anything i own. i have several rifles that i made and don't have serial numbers. oops, did i just say that?

[alfred1222]

Most of my guns aren't registered.... Why would that make me open to arrest

[geoint]

doubletap, as long as they are in a locked container, a LEO can't legally search it without a warrant.

However, LEOs are good at scaring/tricking people into unlocking or giving access to their property to LEOs. Dont be fooled. And record everything, discreetly. You Never know but if a LEO does illegally search your stuff and finds something illegal, that evidence was illegally acquired and inadmissible in court. But without rock hard proof the LEO was illegally searching, they will find a way to 'prove' it was legal or justified.

[SonofWWIIDI]

all my rifles are unregistered. registration wasn't required until Jan 2014.
i don't need or have permits for anything i own. i have several rifles that i made and don't have serial numbers. oops, did i just say that?

Of course that as before the tragic boating accident...right?

[gunner336]

unregistered

I have stopped or contacted numerous people over the years that were in possession of unregistered weapons. As long as not stolen or registered to another then your GTG.
If registered to another then in Calif we look at the DOT (date of transfer) in AFIS (automated firearm system) to see if purchased before the law changed.

Had one where the DOT was 5 yrs prior. Subject stated it was fathers gun who had died. Gave me full name and address of dad. Same last for both.
Told him to do a voluntary registration. And let him go.

[Sleighter]

doubletap, as long as they are in a locked container, a LEO can't legally search it without a warrant.



SNIP.

This isn't exactly true. If a LEO knows that there's a gun in the container then they are allowed to inspect it and verify that it's unloaded, even if it's in a locked container in the car. It used to be called a (g) check I think, but then they renumbered the PC.

So, if you tell a LEO you have a gun in the car, they can inspect it. If they don't know there's a gun in the car, there's nothing for them to check. So who knows what's in the safe, could be money, could be gum, who knows.

[RickD427]

This isn't exactly true. If a LEO knows that there's a gun in the container then they are allowed to inspect it and verify that it's unloaded, even if it's in a locked container in the car. It used to be called a (g) check I think, but then they renumbered the PC.

So, if you tell a LEO you have a gun in the car, they can inspect it. If they don't know there's a gun in the car, there's nothing for them to check. So who knows what's in the safe, could be money, could be gum, who knows.

Sleighter,

Good catch, there is no requirement for a warrant simply because a firearm is in a locked container. Search and seizure law is quite complicated. If the locked container were in just about any other location than a motor vehicle, then a search warrant would most often be needed.

Please refer to U.S. v Ross for vehicle exceptions to the search warrant requirement.

Also please refer to People v DeLong for a LEO's special authority to search a vehicle for lawfully possessed firearms.

[The Gleam]

...unregistered firearms....

Don't you mean to say: "Undocumented Device"?

[drifts1]

I have stopped or contacted numerous people over the years that were in possession of unregistered weapons. As long as not stolen or registered to another then your GTG.
If registered to another then in Calif we look at the DOT (date of transfer) in AFIS (automated firearm system) to see if purchased before the law changed.

Had one where the DOT was 5 yrs prior. Subject stated it was fathers gun who had died. Gave me full name and address of dad. Same last for both.
Told him to do a voluntary registration. And let him go.

Just curios if you've run into a situation where someone had possession of a firearm they had borrowed. and if so, how did/would you handle. It is legal to loan a firearm to a non-prohibited person for up to 30 days, past 30 days it would to be transferred/drossed.

[IrishJoe3]

doubletap, as long as they are in a locked container, a LEO can't legally search it without a warrant.
.

Um. Might want to review Carroll V. United States for the Motor Vehicle Exception to that warrant requirement.

....The motor vehicle exception allows an officer to search a vehicle without a search warrant as long as he or she has probable cause to believe that evidence or contraband is located in the vehicle...

..The motor vehicle exception in addition to allowing officers to search the vehicle also allows officers to search any containers found inside the vehicle that could contain the evidence or contraband being searched for.....

[Sleighter]

What would happen if pulled over and had an uregistered firearm(s)?

apologies if this topic has been covered in any way, but what would likely happen if you were to get pulled over and had unregistered firearms in your vehicle and was caught with them? obviously, jail time and im sure heavy fines and such, but does anybody know the steps as to what would happen? also, what would happen if you were a registered gun owner? would the doj take your permits away forever or a fine? was thinking out loud and actually had no idea what would happen if this situation arose. thanks in advance!

Ok. I'm going to try and sort this out for you since you're obviously new (not a bad thing) and seem a little confused. Here's the history:

1991: Any HANDGUN that has been purchased since 1/1/91 has been registered with CADOJ as part of the buying process.

2000(1?): owners had the option to register or remove from the state any "assault weapons" that they already owned. This created a "registered assault weapon" in the CADOJ database. If you had one, you'd know it. Since then, most of us have fixed mag weapons that circumvent the AW ban and so these guns aren't registered.

2014: AS OF 1/1/14 any gun (handgun OR long gun that is purchased in CA is registered to the owner through CADOJ just like handguns have been since 1991.

So, until 2014 all of the long guns that were purchased were not registered. There is a DROS (dealer record of sale) that is kept by the FFL that performed the transfer, but there is no state database that lists those purchases by serial #, etc.

Because there was no requirement to register long guns and it wasn't done automatically, almost every long gun in the state is unregistered, and perfectly LEGAL.

Where you would run into problems is if you purchased a handgun illegally between '91 and now and it isn't registered. For example, if you're under 24, there's no conceivable way (off the top of my head) that you could legally possess an unregistered handgun. So that could lead to problems.


PROBLEM #2: the ideas of "registered gun owners" and "DOJ PERMITS" don't really exist in CA law. No permit is necessary in CA to be a gun owner. As of this year you need a FSC to be a new gun, but not just to own one you already had. Likewise, if your FSC expires you're still ok, you just can't buy any new guns until you get a new one. So there really isn't a DOJ permit for gun owners. In CA it's the guns that are registered, not the person. I suppose that technically if you have a registered firearm you are a "registered gun owner", but a lot of people don't own registered guns (perfectly legal ones) and so they aren't in a database of registered firearms. For example, if before 2014 you only bought long guns, none of them would be registered, and the DOJ wouldn't really know what guns you have or didn't have. In that respect you wouldn't be a "registered gun owner" but you'd be totally legal.

All of that is probably clear as mud. Let us know what other questions you have.

[drifts1]

^^^ However a legally transported & possesed firearm wouldn't be considered evidence or contraband, would it?