New CA resident bought a shotgun without an FFL

[L4D]

I have a friend who just moved here from Hawaii on orders and was ignorant of the state requirement to go through an FFL to when buying firearms from a private party.

I have no clue if the seller knew or not. A few things we know are his phone number and that he is indeed a CA resident based on the bill of sale that they both signed.

What needs to happen to make this right? He is in the military and any type of hot water could possibly revoke the clearance that he holds.


I know of the voluntary registration but doesn't that apply to handguns only?
Do both parties need to be involved

Thanks in advance for the guidance.

[Librarian]

Yes, both parties must be involved.

The owner and the buyer need to take the shotgun to a local FFL and perform a PPT transaction.

Simple, inexpensive, and the Right Thing To Do.

[rromeo]

Both parties should go do a proper PPT.

[L4D]

This was done 2 months ago and the seller is now on deployment for another 4 months. Can he register it himself somehow? It was a brand new 870 that was purchased at Turners a few months before he sold it to my buddy.

He is very worried about his clearance and is actually pissed i posted about it here on Calguns, I can understand where he is coming from holding a clearance myself.

[thayne]

This was done 2 months ago and the seller is now on deployment for another 4 months. Can he register it himself somehow? It was a brand new 870 that was purchased at Turners a few months before he sold it to my buddy.

He is very worried about his clearance and is actually pissed i posted about it here on Calguns, I can understand where he is coming from holding a clearance myself.

Shotguns dont have to be registered

[HowardW56]

Shotguns dont have to be registered

The PPT transfer should have been handled by a FFL...

[TKM]

This was done 2 months ago and the seller is now on deployment for another 4 months. Can he register it himself somehow? It was a brand new 870 that was purchased at Turners a few months before he sold it to my buddy.

He is very worried about his clearance and is actually pissed i posted about it here on Calguns, I can understand where he is coming from holding a clearance myself.

I don't understand why he's pissed. Obviously it is in his best interest for you to post this information directly to the CaDOJ. I'm sure you will get a really nifty Christmas card next year.

If you ever see me wandering around San Diego looking confused, don't try to help.

[gunsmith]

He is very worried about his clearance and is actually pissed i posted about it here on Calguns, I can understand where he is coming from holding a clearance myself.

I can understand where he is coming from too, but the damage is done- isn't it.

I live in Nevada where we have things like liberty and freedom and do not have to worry about ppt's ... I'll tell you what, drive it over to my place & I will babysit it until he becomes a NV resident...

[L4D]

I don't understand why he's pissed. Obviously it is in his best interest for you to post this information directly to the CaDOJ. I'm sure you will get a really nifty Christmas card next year.

If you ever see me wandering around San Diego looking confused, don't try to help.

I understand the damage is done... I guess I could have walked up to a police officer and asked him for help instead of posting in the "2nd Amend, Related Legal". If we can't turn here for help do you suggest we ask CADoJ directly?

You forgot your sarcasm button. If i ever do see you wandering around San Diego confused ill pay some stranger to point you in the wrong direction.

I guess he will just have to wait until he gets back to do it right.

[HowardW56]

I guess he will just have to wait until he gets back to do it right.

DING, DING, DING, WE HAVE A WINNER

[CrazyPhuD]

Ultimately you should check with a firearms lawyer to be sure. But one question I would ask is, did the exchange happen on base? Or off base?

If it happened on base then certain aspects of the CA laws may not apply since it is federal property(but again lawyers are the ones that would know). This is especially true if both parties retained IDs from other states and claim taxes in other states. While they can buy guns in CA with out of state ID and military orders, they may be considered still officially residents of their claimed states and CA DOJ might not apply. Although a mess of federal regulations could come into play if they are residents of different states. This messy wiggle room may only apply if it happened on base, if it happened off base then clearly state laws would apply.

At any rate if your friend is concerned he should talk to a lawyer specializing in firearms to be sure. But one other issue is important to that your friend should consider with clearances. While there is risk if he did something wrong. If he did something wrong and didn't self report it and they find out about it, the punishment is likely to be more severe than if he did something wrong accidentally and self reported it. Your risk here is to self report and take the medicine or hope they don't find out and make it worse if they do(note I'm not saying self report to CA DOJ but your supervisor).

[bill_k_lopez]

I'm not advocating doing anything illegal or wrong - but this really isn't a big deal.

When the buddy gets back from deployment your friend and his buddy can go to an FFL and do the paperwork so its a legal transfer. For the time being your friend is just holding on to his buddies shotgun while he is on deployment.

Nobody is going to kick down his door and ask him for his proof of ownership, the cops, BATF, DOJ, MPs or FBI (even after reading you posting about it) aren't going to storm in and arrest your friend. There is no damage done, nobody is going to lose their clearance.

[minermax]

Why not just keep the shotgun out of public domaine and just do the PPT when the other guy is back from deployment? No harm no foul in just storing this for the guy while he is out of town, new bill of sale and you are good to go ?!!!! I do not think this would be a Federal case unless you want to make it one. To comply with the law when he is back is better than not at all. Just my 2 cents worth

[epilepticninja]

To the OP, tell your friend not sweat his clearance. No one is going to send the library police after him. When the seller returns, have them both do a PPT, and call it x-mas.

[TKM]

I understand the damage is done... I guess I could have walked up to a police officer and asked him for help instead of posting in the "2nd Amend, Related Legal". If we can't turn here for help do you suggest we ask CADoJ directly?

You forgot your sarcasm button. If i ever do see you wandering around San Diego confused ill pay some stranger to point you in the wrong direction.

I guess he will just have to wait until he gets back to do it right.

No sarcasm button involved.

You booted your buddy under the bus.