Antique gun require DROS?

[BC9696]

Springfield trapdoor model 1873 45 70 manufactured 1874 April. Does this 150 year old rifle need to be transferred like any modern gun? It's outside CA right now.

[G-forceJunkie]

Nope, not consiedered a firearm for selling/buing purposes.

[Tim padilla]

Your good ! Anything pre 1899 you can stack like cord wood in your pickup and do a multi state US road trip .

[Quiet]

Antique gun require DROS?
Springfield trapdoor model 1873 45 70 manufactured 1874 April. Does this 150 year old rifle need to be transferred like any modern gun? It's outside CA right now.

Under CA laws...

An "antique firearm" [PC 16170] is still considered a firearm. [PC 16520(a)]

However, because of it's antique status it is granted specific exemptions to CA firearm laws. [PC 16520(d)]

Those "antique firearm" exemptions makes it legal to import them into CA without needing to utilize a CA FFL dealer [PC 16520(d)(15)] and transfer them in CA without needing to utilize a CA FFL dealer [PC 16520(d)(14)].

Therefore...

It is legal under Federal and CA laws, to buy an "antique firearm" online and have it shipped directly to you address without needing to utilize a FFL and without needing to report anything to anyone.




Penal Code 16170
(a) As used in Sections 30515 and 30530, "antique firearm" means any firearm manufactured before January 1, 1899.
(b) As used in Section 16520, Section 16650, subdivision (a) of Section 23630, paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 27505, and subdivision (a) of Section 31615, "antique firearm" has the same meaning as in Section 921(a)(16) of Title 18 of the United States Code.
(c) As used in Sections 16531 and 17700, "antique firearm" means either of the following:
(1) Any firearm not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional center fire ignition with fixed ammunition and manufactured in or before the year 1898. This type of firearm includes any matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system or replica thereof, whether actually manufactured before or after the year 1898.
(2) Any firearm using fixed ammunition manufactured in or before the year 1898, for which ammunition is no longer manufactured in the United States and is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade.

18 USC 921
(a) As used in this chapter -
(16) The term "antique firearm" means -
(A) any firearm (including any firearm with a matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system) manufactured in or before 1898; or
(B) any replica of any firearm described in subparagraph (A) if such replica -
(i) is not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition, or
(ii) uses rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition which is no longer manufactured in the United States and which is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade; or
(C) any muzzle loading rifle, muzzle loading shotgun, or muzzle loading pistol, which is designed to use black powder, or a black powder substitute, and which cannot use fixed ammunition. For purposes of this subparagraph, the term "antique firearm" shall not include any weapon which incorporates a firearm frame or receiver, any firearm which is converted into a muzzle loading weapon, or any muzzle loading weapon which can be readily converted to fire fixed ammunition by replacing the barrel, bolt, breechblock, or any combination thereof.

Penal Code 16520

[Nardo1895]

As always Quiet does a great job of providing the legal references. IMO that one should be a sticky.

A lot of dealers either get this wrong, or chose to ignore it. They believe that anything that fires fixed ammunition still generally available in commercial channels does not qualify as an antique, regardless of age. They either base that off of the NFA definition of Antique (rather then the GCA definition), or they have been bullied into not allowing it by DOJ.