HIGH CAPACITY MAGAZINES

[sirdutch]

Is it illegal now, in California, to keep standard capacity mags now that were legally purchased before the 10 round limitation? I was told they were grandfathered in? I probably should know this so please forgive my ignorance. My friend says he can keep them but I'm just not sure.

Thanks

[P5Ret]

Until the court case is settled, you can keep them. It'll probably be a few years yet until we have a one way or the other answer. For now keep em and use em.

[sirdutch]

Thanks, P5Ret

[RickD427]

Is it illegal now, in California, to keep standard capacity mags now that were legally purchased before the 10 round limitation? I was told they were grandfathered in? I probably should know this so please forgive my ignorance. My friend says he can keep them but I'm just not sure.

Thanks

This question has been discussed a lot. The "Search" function is your friend.

In a nutshell:

1) The simple possession of large-capacity magazines has been illegal since 2017 and there was no "grandfathering" of magazines that were lawfully possessed prior to the ban.

2) The ban has been challenged in Federal Court. The Trial Court and Circuit Court held the ban to be unconstitutional, but an en banc rehearing by the Circuit Court upheld the ban. There is now a request for certiorari pending before the Supreme Court.

3) There has been a injunction granted that prohibits enforcement of the ban on possession of large-capacity magazines pending the final resolution of the federal case.

4) That court order makes it almost functionally equivalent to it being legal to possess the magazines, but they still remain illegal. There is nothing in the federal court action that changed, or modified, the law in any way.

[Quiet]

Legally there are things as large capacity magazine and non-large capacity magazine.

It is illegal to make, import, advertise for sale, and transfer large capacity magazines in CA. [PC 32310(a)]

While technically it is illegal to possess large capacity magazines in CA [PC 32310(c)], the enforcement of this is stayed until the Courts can finalized a ruling on the matter of the legality of large capacity magazines.

Keep in mind that the stay on enforcement does not prevent large capacity magazines from being confiscated as nuisance items. Which are large capacity magazines there were illegally obtained or obtained through a non-exempt manner. [PC 32390]



Legally there are no such thing as a high capacity magazine or a standard capacity magazine.

Standard capacity would be what the manufacturer designed the firearm to use, low capacity would be anything below the standard amount, and high capacity would be anything over the standard amount.

However, those terms have now become politicized buzzwords.

In addition, what a manufacturer uses as standard capacity magazine or as a high capacity magazine can still be legal in CA, because they do not meet the CA legal terminology of a large capacity magazine.
^Examples:
~S&W M&P Shield 9 = (standard capacity) 7 rounds (high capacity) 8 rounds.
~Glock 39 = (standard capacity) 6 rounds (high capacity) 8 & 10 rounds.
~SIG P220 = (standard capacity) 8 rounds (high capacity) 10 rounds.
~Colt M-1911A1 = (standard capacity) 7 rounds (high capacity) 8 & 10 rounds (high capacity that is also considered large capacity) 15 rounds.

Therefore, when discussing legal matters it is pertinent to use the correct legal terminology and not terminology that changes dependent on the item that is being discussed or the ideology of the person discussing it.