What is the problem with shipping firearms to California ?

[Dick Grosbier]

I may be looking to sell an item soon and I noticed several ads in new classifieds section said no shipments to California. Is there some particular reason shipping to Ca is tricky or a PIA ?

Thanks

Dick

 

[jackie schmidt]

Dick

I did a google search, and by the time you wade through all of the new regulations, you would probably have a better chance of shipping a firearm to North Korea.

I am so glad I live in Texas..........jackie

 

[HovisKM]

It's really not all that big of a problem. More of a nusiance than anything. The FFL or seller has to contact some dept in the state of California to get a number for shipping. Then pack it up and ship it with a copy of the ffl that it's going to, the CA number and it's smooth sailing basically. It was not problem for me as the FFL in california took care of everything and all I have to tell him was the make, model and S/N of the action/gun.

Hovis

 

[mike in co]

its not part of the usa, so there is a lot more paper work.......

 

[John S]

No Real Problem

If the person buying the rifle in California has a competent FFL to ship to, the competent California FFL can guide the out of state FFL through the process in a couple of minutes. We have done it several times without any problems.

 

[andre3k]

its not a big deal, people are just too lazy to learn the rules.

 

[mike in co]

its not a big deal, people are just too lazy to learn the rules.

right.....lol
let see one set of rules for 49 states and one for california...oh and a restricted list of what can go into ca, and mag limits and..and and....

why should anyone outside of ca even consider dealing with such fools ??.

let see i can sell to 49 states without jumping thru a bunch of hoops or i can spend my valuable time dealing wiht the bs selling to ca ????


mike in co
( born and raised in ca, learned enough to leave)

 

[Dick Grosbier]

its not a big deal, people are just too lazy to learn the rules.

Well as a person who sells at most 1 gun every 5 years I am not real inclined to learn the rules.

I thank everyone who answered my question. I think I can now see why a person might want to avoid the hassle.

Thanks

Dick

 

[burtona]

I understand the rule only applies to an FFL holder shipping to a California FFL for transfer. An individual can ship to a CA FFL holder without going through the CA process.

 

[tenring]

"An individual can ship to a CA FFL holder without going through the CA process."

I sold a rifle to a guy in CA three months ago, and that is exactly what was done. The buyer's CA dealer sent me a copy of his FFL; I took it to the PO with the gun and they accepted it, no problems. Just like sending to any other state.

 

[HPC]

What is the problem with shipping firearms to California?

mike in co

Answer this question – just who are you referring to in your statement, “why should anyone outside of ca even consider dealing with such fools ??.”?

burtona – you’re correct.

If you’re not a dealer, the license check does not apply to you. It is FFL to FFL not private party to FFL. The reason the check exists is to ensure the FFL in CA is legitimate from a State perspective, not Federal. Let’s say a CA FFL receives a firearm from another FFL without an approval letter – it’s probably the end of his business on the next inspection. Nothing happens to the out-of-state FFL because it is the CA FFL’s responsibility to act in accordance with all applicable State regulations.

Does this check work right into the hands of those who want to demonize and marginalize firearms dealers/owners – of course it does and it really works much better than they hoped, because there are FFLs who don’t want to “take the time” to get the approval letter. These FFLs are all over gunbroker.com (NO CALIFORNIA SALES) and I’ve convinced most that I’ve dealt with that it isn’t as hard to do as ignorant people assert. Another layer of bureaucracy – yes, but manageable, especially if it helps your bottom line.

For those elitists who don’t want to deal with CA firearm dealers/owners, congratulations – you’re working hand-in-hand with those who want to ban firearms ownership. You say you don’t want to bother with CA regulations and besides that, it can’t happen to you - my answer is simply, WAKE UP – it can happen to you and you should be standing with us, a group that has, on average, over 1300 firearms transactions a day, not separating from us.


HPC

 

[OldPPC]

"An individual can ship to a CA FFL holder without going through the CA process."

I sold a rifle to a guy in CA three months ago, and that is exactly what was done. The buyer's CA dealer sent me a copy of his FFL; I took it to the PO with the gun and they accepted it, no problems. Just like sending to any other state.

That's exactly correct, tenring. Shipping to California really isn't all that much different than shipping anywhere else. The purchaser contacts the FFL holder. The FFL holder either FAX's his FFL number to the seller (some just allow the buyer to send it) and the seller ships to the dealer using that number. The seller also provides the buyer with the tracking number for the shipment. After that, the seller can relax. All the rest of the process is handled by the FFL holder and the buyer.
Seller duty:
Ship to dealer address using FFL number
Send buyer tracking number
That's it
Now if that's too much trouble to help one of your shooting friends in California who are victims of a system they didn't ask for - what ever happened to comradery?:

 

[glbreil]

Sounds Good If Your Not An FFL Holder

That may be all good for the individual seller, but as an FFL holder I have to license my self with the state of California which yes is free, but requires more trouble, that is not required in the other 49 states. I already live in the second most restrictive state out of the 50.

The real issue is at least to me is that when two FFL licensees who have both been checked out by the ATF and are forced to keep records on both ends of any transaction for 20 years that should be good enough. Any further restriction just causes people to say why should I bother sending anything to California, which is the real desire, that and to spend California Tax dollars.

Gary

 

[andre3k]

right.....lol
let see one set of rules for 49 states and one for california...oh and a restricted list of what can go into ca, and mag limits and..and and....

why should anyone outside of ca even consider dealing with such fools ??.

let see i can sell to 49 states without jumping thru a bunch of hoops or i can spend my valuable time dealing wiht the bs selling to ca ????


mike in co
( born and raised in ca, learned enough to leave)

Don't even get me started about FFL's who don't bother to read the rules when it comes to something as simple as shipping weapons. I just came across one who thought an AR pistol was an NFA weapon. And whats this business of not accepting shipments from individuals?