Gun Purchase Fees

[BoxMaker]

Hello everyone, I'm a newbie here and I have a newbie question, so forgive me up front.

What fees are involved in purchasing a gun in California on top of the purchase price and the tax? I haven't bought a gun - ever, and I am 66 years old. I have had guns all of my life though. Some were given to me and some I inherited, but, never purchased any.

My oldest son has taken up shooting as a hobby and I thought I would spent some quality time with my son by joining him in something he enjoys. He likes 22's, so I will be looking to buy a 22 rifle and a pistol. Maybe the old man can keep up with him on the shooting range.

Hey, I'll take suggestions on guns too.

Thanks!

[Chester]

Pretty much just looking at a $25 DROS fee to have California violate your civil rights for 10 days, and sometimes places like Turners will charge a BS "handling" fee that isn't much more than another $5.

I don't know much about 22's, but I just bought a ruger 10/22 (shot it for the first time yesterday) and it is a GREAT rifle so far.

[jtmkinsd]

Hello everyone, I'm a newbie here and I have a newbie question, so forgive me up front.

What fees are involved in purchasing a gun in California on top of the purchase price and the tax? I haven't bought a gun - ever, and I am 66 years old. I have had guns all of my life though. Some were given to me and some I inherited, but, never purchased any.

My oldest son has taken up shooting as a hobby and I thought I would spent some quality time with my son by joining him in something he enjoys. He likes 22's, so I will be looking to buy a 22 rifle and a pistol. Maybe the old man can keep up with him on the shooting range.

Hey, I'll take suggestions on guns too.

Thanks!

If you buy a gun at a store, you will most likely only be faced with a DROS fee of $25. A DROS is a state mandated fee for doing the background check on you. You can find some screaming deals on guns online, but then you would be faced with a dealer transfer fee in addition to the DROS fee. The dealer (FFL who receives your gun shippment and processes your transfer) can charge whatever he/she wants. A good price is $35 - $50. In very rare cases you may find someone who charges less.

As far as what guns to get...you may want to go to a range which rents guns and try out a few. You may want to go Ruger for both the long gun and the pistol. A Ruger 10/22 is a good stable platform for .22 long gun. The Ruger Mark III is an excellent .22 pistol as well. But as I said, go try a bunch of different ones and see how they feel.

[leelaw]

The price you will encounter at your FFL:

If you are buying from a dealer's inventory: $25 DROS, tax on purchase price, purchase price

If you are buying from a private party and transferring at a dealer: $35, purchase price

If you are buying from an online or other retail source and having it shipped to your dealer: $25 DROS, transfer fee of usually between $35-150*

*use tax must be reported on tax return

[Cyc Wid It]

If you are buying from an online or other retail source and having it shipped to your dealer: $25 DROS, transfer fee of usually between $35-150*

*use tax must be reported on tax return

Not if it's from a private individual seller correct?

[jtmkinsd]

Not if it's from a private individual seller correct?

Correct...only from online firearm retailer

And actually more and more dealers are collecting the tax on those purchases rather than leaving it up to the buyer to report it on their tax form. So I would ask any potential FFL if they are going to collect the tax before I ship anything to them.

[six10]

Also, if you've never purchased a handgun before, you probably haven't bothered to get a Handgun Safety Certificate. That'll be another $25.

[Mike's Custom]

A DROS is $25. This is for hte background check on long guns and for the background check and hand gun registration on hand guns. A FFL can ONLY charge $25 for a DROS, HOWEVER, they can charge anything they want as a "documentation fee" or paperwork fee. With all the copies a FFL must make some do chargea small fee, $1 or so per copy but most, like me, just charge the DROS fee of $25. I know I got pissed off years ago when car dealers started charging a "documentation fee" to fill out all the paperwork and DMV forms. Back then, in the 70s it was $25. now they charge over $100 and it is all filled out on a computr and printed out. Man, maybe I should rethink that DOC FEE thing....

[negolien]

Agree with aboves

Dros..25 bucks
Handgun test = 25 bucks to take ti 2 times if you fail 1st one. You can get the pamphlet online..Make sure you have adobe reader for it. The test is 30 questions plus a safe handgun demonstration which is explained in the PDF.

As for guns Ruger is a good place to start for a long gun fairly cheap. Not sure on hand guns alot to choose from. Look at buds guns to get an idea imo.

http://ag.ca.gov/firearms/forms/pdf/hscsg.pdf

[BoxMaker]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I downloaded the Handgun Safety Certificate booklet and read it. I am retired Military so I guess I won't be required to take the test, but will they still charge me the $25 for the issuance of the Handgun Safety Certificate?

[halifax]

Retired military in an out-right exemption from the HSC requirement. NO $25 necessary. NO HSC required.

[BoxMaker]

Retired military in an out-right exemption from the HSC requirement. NO $25 necessary. NO HSC required.

Great! Al last, some measure of trust from big brother.

[halifax]

Great! Al last, some measure of trust from big brother.

Unfortunately, that "measure of trust" was not extented to Honorably Discharged military. A vet who did three tours of duty in a war zone still needs to be tested and pay while a grunt straight out of bootcamp gets an exemption. Go figure.

[BoxMaker]

Unfortunately, that "measure of trust" was not extented to Honorably Discharged military. A vet who did three tours of duty in a war zone still needs to be tested and pay while a grunt straight out of bootcamp gets an exemption. Go figure.

I want to thank you for your sacrifice. Anyone serving any time in our military deserves a degree of respect more than as sometimes demonstrated by our leaders, government, and citizens. Believe me when I tell you that I deeply appreciate you and your contribution to our country. One tour of duty in a war zone is a huge sacrifice on your part and three tours is way beyond what should be required of a person. I salute you.

[halifax]

I want to thank you for your sacrifice. Anyone serving any time in our military deserves a degree of respect more than as sometimes demonstrated by our leaders, government, and citizens. Believe me when I tell you that I deeply appreciate you and your contribution to our country. One tour of duty in a war zone is a huge sacrifice on your part and three tours is way beyond what should be required of a person. I salute you.

I'm sorry if I misled you. I'm not a vet, but, as a dealer, I have to tell those guys their service doesn't merit an exemption to the HSC. Ticks me off every time.

Thank you (all of you) for your service.

ETA: Hell. I even had to inform a combat veteran of Iwo Jima (and other Pacific campaigns) that the state doesn't recognize his service as an exemption. WTH