Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 2024 ‘Universal Background Checks in California.’ Background Checks. San Francisco, CA: Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 20 April

Relevant contents

[Editor's note: The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence regularly updates its webpages with new data as US gun regulation evolves state by state. For the most up-to-date information on US gun laws, please refer to the Giffords URL below]

Private Sales in California

When neither party to a transaction is a licensed firearms dealer, firearms transfers in California must be completed through a licensed California dealer.

To complete such transactions, the seller or transferor must provide the firearm to the dealer, who will deliver the firearm to the purchaser or transferee following a background check and expiration of the mandatory state waiting period, unless the transferee is prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms, or the dealer is otherwise notified by the California Department of Justice that the sale or transfer may not proceed.

If the dealer cannot deliver the firearm to the purchaser or transferee, the dealer must determine whether the private seller or transferor is prohibited from possessing a firearm. If the seller or transferor does not fall into a prohibited class, the dealer must immediately return the firearm to that party.

In the event the seller or transferor does fall into a prohibited class, the dealer cannot return the firearm to that party, and must deliver the firearm to the sheriff of the county or to the chief of police of any city in the county in which the dealer operates.

The following sales and transfers are exempt from the requirement that they be processed through a licensed dealer:

- Certain government-sponsored transfers, including gun buybacks;
- Certain transfers to nonprofit historical societies, museums, or institutional collections;
- Transfers to licensed firearms manufacturers and importers;
- Infrequent transfers between immediate family members;
- Certain loans involving firearms;
- Donations made to non-profit auctions;
- Transfers by operation of law; or
- Certain transfers of curios or relics to licensed firearms collectors.

Private sales and transfers of firearms are not subject to the state's restriction on purchasing more than one handgun per month, or the state's design safety standards for handguns.

All licensed firearms dealers must process private party transfers of long guns upon request. Licensed dealers who sell, transfer, or stock handguns must also process private party handgun transactions upon request.

Any person, corporation, or dealer is prohibited from transferring a firearm to a person the seller "knows or has cause to believe" is not the actual purchaser or transferee of a firearm (such a person is known as a "straw purchaser" - someone not in a prohibited category who buys firearms on behalf of a convicted felon, juvenile or other prohibited purchaser), if the person, corporation, or dealer knows that the firearm is to be subsequently transferred in violation of California law.

California law also prohibits any person from supplying a firearm to any person that state law prohibits from possessing firearms for mental health reasons.

Private sellers of firearms must also comply with California's age restrictions for the purchase or sale of a firearm…

Last accessed at:
https://giffords.org/lawcenter/state-laws/universal-background-checks-in-california/