Can someone explain this law to me??

[Sky_DiveR]

How would anybody know if your handgun was registered or not? How does it get registered in the first place? I thought the gubmint ain't supposed to keep records like that.

[Librarian]

How would anybody know if your handgun was registered or not?

How does it get registered in the first place? I thought the gubmint ain't supposed to keep records like that.

After an arrest on the gun charge, police query the CA Automated Firearms System. Despite the database's known limitations, 'no record' is deemed to be 'not registered'.

See the wiki for 'how do guns get into AFS' -- http://wiki.calgunsfoundation.org/Firearms_registration

(Perhaps you are thinking of BATF when you say "I thought the gubmint ain't supposed to keep records like that.". The Congressional restriction on BATF doesn't apply to states.)

[Sky_DiveR]

Hmmm.... I didn't know that the AFS was started in '91. I was just joking about the gubmint records thing. Learned some new things today. Thanks for the link.

[RickD427]

Hmmm.... I didn't know that the AFS was started in '91. I was just joking about the gubmint records thing. Learned some new things today. Thanks for the link.

AFS has been around a lot longer than 1991. It was in place when I first started working in 1976.

1991 was the year that private sales of handguns were required to through FFLs. That produced an AFS entry for all such transactions.

[Mitch]

It's a "clever" way to backdoor people who owned their firearms prior to the mandatory registration period, and who haven't voluntarily registered the firearms.

New handguns have been registered in California since the 1920s, and PPTs have gone through an FFL since the early 1990s.

Unless you purchased your handgun through a private party prior to 1992, it will have been registered, assuming you aren't breaking the law.

[retiredAFcop]

New handguns have been registered in California since the 1920s, and PPTs have gone through an FFL since the early 1990s.

Unless you purchased your handgun through a private party prior to 1992, it will have been registered, assuming you aren't breaking the law.

Or purchased them out of state prior to registration requirements for guns brought in when you moved here.