Come January 1, California gun owners will have yet another set of hoops to jump through as Governor Gavin Newsom continues his relentless pursuit of law-abiding citizens. The new law, ostensibly to impede the manufacture of 3D-printed guns via a proof of age restriction and mandatory verification that the recipient of parts and pieces (more on that in a minute) will not “manufacture” without a manufacturing license, more than three firearms per year.
By Jim Shepherd for Shooting News Weekly
As usual, it’s unclear if the law considers changing out a trigger “manufacturing,” but that’s typical of the broad, yet shallow lengths anti-gun legislators will go to in order to make life more difficult for law-abiding citizens. Criminals, as everyone except apparently politicians know, aren’t bothered by regulations.
If you’re selling online parts or accessories, you can either wait for a positive digital confirmation of age or ship the accessory to an FFL for a scheduled pickup where the FFL will be required to do the age verification.
But California’s new law is more than an age verification to impede “ghost gun” manufacturing. It’s actually designed to slow, if not stop sales of repair or replacement parts and tools to work on firearms. It also creates a de facto registry. While California won’t have the names of all gun owners, it will certainly have a listing — a registry — of everyone who buys gun parts.
Interestingly, Californians don’t have to provide a government identification to vote (a utility bill will suffice), but you’ll need to provide a license or other identification to buy a gunsmith’s hammer or a screwdriver.
The law expands the definition of a firearms accessory . . .
…means an attachment or device designed or adapted to be inserted into, affixed onto, or used in conjunction with a firearm that is designed, intended or functions to increase a firearm’s rate of fire or to increase the speed at which a person may reload a firearm or replace the magazine., or any other attachment or device described in subdivision (a) of Section 30515 of the Penal Code that may render a firearm an assault weapon when inserted into, affixed onto, or used in conjunction with a firearm. The term firearm accessory also includes any other device, tool, kit, part, or parts set that is clearly designed and intended for use in manufacturing firearms.
Essentially, this rather broad and vague interpretation includes virtually anything except possibly reloading, cleaning and other gun gear (does a magazine pouch enable you to reload faster?).
The requirements for a seller aren’t designed to streamline the checkout process. It will require. . .
– notice on manufacturing if receiving firearms pasts of accessories
– acknowledgement by customer of receipt and understanding of notice
– verification of proof of age- must be over 18
– Signature with clear and conspicuous markings on package stating “Signature and proof of identification of person aged 18 years or older required for delivery”
– Requirement that purchaser provide carrier with identification and sign for the package
– Address for delivery must match address on identification received for age verification.
Those requirements wouldn’t apply to delivery to an FFL, wholesaler, certain law enforcement or the military. The requirements also don’t apply to the carriers transporting the products.
I asked my UPS driver how he’d handle these requirements. He laughingly pointed to his brown shirt and said “These letters say U-P-S, not A-T-F. I’m not in the regulator business, I deliver packages.”
The notice required by California law requires the recipient of the part, piece, whatever to sign and date the form, acknowledging the fact they realize it is
generally a crime in California to manufacture more than three firearms per year, manufacture a firearm using a three-dimensional printer or CNC milling machine, manufacture for the purpose of selling or transferring ownership of that firearm to another individual who is not licensed to manufacture firearms, or to manufacture for the purposes of selling, loaning or transferring that firearm without the required background check initiated by a licensed firearms dealer, allowing, abetting, of facilitating the manufacture of a firearm by a person legally prohibited from possessing firearms, or causing the manufacture of assault weapons, machine-guns, undetectable firearms, unsearlized firearms, unsafe handguns that are not on the department of justice roster of handguns certified for sale in California or other generally prohibited weapons.
Apparently, the news of the Supreme Court rulings in the Heller and Bruen cases hasn’t made its way into California, but it’s virtually certain that 2A organizations there and nationally will be waiting at the courthouse steps by, if not before, January 1 to challenge this latest attempt to help a few more gun-related businesses to head to less restrictive areas.
As always, we’ll keep you posted.
Read the original article in its entirety on Shooting News Weekly.
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