Following the passage of Senate Bill 118 during the 2020 Legislative Session, the California Department of Justice announced recently that those small number of firearms covered by SB 118 would need to be registered. The registration period for “Other Assault Weapons” will open on October 1, 2021, and run through the end of the year. For those who intend to comply with this registration requirement, please see the below information:
Penal Code section 30900, as amended, requires any person who, prior to September 1, 2020, lawfully possessed an assault weapon as defined by Penal Code Section 30515 subdivision (a) paragraphs (9), (10), and (11), and is eligible to register an assault weapon as set forth in Penal Code Section 30900, subdivision (c), to submit an application to the DOJ to register the firearm before January 1, 2022. The regulations for Other Assault Weapon Registration that contain additional information regarding registration requirements are now available on the Firearms Regulations/Rulemaking Activities webpage.
What is considered an “Other” assault weapon?
Pursuant to Penal Code section 30900, subdivision (c), paragraph (1), effective September 1, 2020, an “Other” assault weapon is defined in Penal Code section 30515, subdivision (a), paragraphs (9), (10), or (11), as:
- A semiautomatic centerfire firearm that is not a rifle, pistol, or shotgun, that does not have a fixed magazine, but that has any one of the following:
- A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon.
- A thumbhole stock.
- A folding or telescoping stock.
- A grenade launcher or flare launcher.
- A flash suppressor.
- A forward pistol grip.
- A threaded barrel, capable of accepting a flash suppressor, forward handgrip, or silencer.
- A second handgrip.
- A shroud that is attached to, or partially or completely encircles, the barrel that allows the bearer to fire the weapon without burning the bearer’s hand, except a slide that encloses the barrel.
- The capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some location outside of the pistol grip.
- A semiautomatic centerfire firearm that is not a rifle, pistol, or shotgun, that has a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.
- A semiautomatic centerfire firearm that is not a rifle, pistol, or shotgun, that has an overall length of less than 30 inches.
For purposes of this section, “fixed magazine” means an ammunition feeding device contained in, or permanently attached to, a firearm in such a manner that the device cannot be removed without disassembly of the firearm action.
Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org and your email inbox for further updates.