November 2025 Legislation/Litigation Update

November Focus

Beginning January 1, 2026, any firearm in your home will have to be secured using a DOJ approved locking device. An exception is made for firearms under your direct, immediate, control. Such as within arm’s reach or worn in your holster.

Legislation

AB 1127, as amended, Gabriel. Firearms: converter pistols.

This law will, on and after July 1, 2026, prohibit a licensed firearms dealer to sell, offer for sale, exchange, give, transfer, or deliver any semiautomatic machinegun-convertible pistol, except as specified. For these purposes, the bill would define “machinegun-convertible pistol” as any semiautomatic pistol with a cruciform trigger bar that can be readily converted by hand or with common household tools into a machinegun by the installation or attachment of a pistol converter, as specified, and “pistol converter” as any device or instrument that, when installed in or attached to the rear of the slide of a semiautomatic pistol, replaces the backplate and interferes with the trigger mechanism and thereby enables the pistol to shoot automatically more than one shot by a single function of the trigger. The bill would make a violation of these provisions punishable by a fine, a 2nd violation punishable by a fine that may result in a suspension or revocation of the dealer’s license and removal from certain centralized lists maintained by the Department of Justice, and a 3rd violation punishable as a misdemeanor that shall result in the revocation of the dealer’s license and removal from certain centralized lists.

Existing law prohibits the manufacture, sale, possession, or transportation of a machinegun, except as authorized. A violation of these prohibitions is punishable as a felony.

This law expands the above definition of “machinegun” to include any full automatic-convertible pistol equipped with a pistol converter and, thus, prohibit the manufacture, sale, possession, or transportation of a machinegun-convertible pistol equipped with a pistol converter.

SB 704, as amended, Arreguín. Firearms: firearm barrels.

Commencing January 1, 2027, this law, except as specified, prohibits the sale or transfer of a firearm barrel, as defined, unless the transaction is completed in person by a licensed firearms dealer. The bill would also prohibit a person from possessing a firearm barrel with the intent to sell, or offering to sell, unless the person is a licensed firearms dealer. The Commencing on July 1, 2027, except as specified, the bill would require the licensed firearms dealer to

conduct an eligibility check of the purchaser or transferee and to record specified information pertaining to the transaction, including the date of the sale or transfer. The bill would make a first and 2nd violation of these provisions punishable as a misdemeanor, and any additional violations punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony, as specified. The bill would require the department to require the licensed firearms dealer to charge a fee up to $5 for each firearm

barrel eligibility check, as specified. By creating a new crime, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.

AB 584, as introduced, Hadwick. Firearms dealers and manufacturers: secure facilities.

This law expands the definition of a secure facility for firearms dealers to allow a doorway with a windowed or windowless steel door that is equipped with panic hardware that operates a multipoint lock that bolts into the interior frame of the door, as specified.

AB 1078, as introduced, Berman. Firearms.

This prohibits a licensing authority from issuing a CCW license if an applicant was convicted of, under any federal law or law of any other state that includes comparable elements of, contempt of court or specified criminal statutes in the 10 years prior to the completed application or was subject to any restraining order, protective order, or other type of court order.

This law requires the review of the California Restraining and Protective Order System to include information concerning whether the applicant is reasonably likely to be a danger to self, others, or the community at large, as specified.

The law additionally exempts from the licensure prohibition for applicants previously subject to a restraining order, protective order, or other type of court order, applicants who were previously subject to an above-described order that did not receive notice and an opportunity to be heard before the order was issued.

• This exempts a firearm that is unloaded and locked in a lock box for the purpose of transporting the firearm from the prohibition on carrying the firearm on a bus, train, or other form of public transportation, including a building, real property, or parking area under the control of a public transportation authority.
• For non-California residents, this law additionally requires, among other requirements, the applicant to attest, under oath, that the jurisdiction in which the applicant has applied is the primary location in California in which they intend to travel or spend time, and that the applicant has completed live-fire shooting exercises for each pistol, revolver, or other firearm for which the applicant is applying to be licensed to carry in California. By requiring local agencies to issue licenses for concealed firearms to non-California residents and expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.

If a psychological assessment on an initial application to carry a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person is required by a licensing authority, existing law requires the applicant to be referred to a licensed psychologist acceptable to the licensing authority.

This law authorizes a licensing authority to allow a non-California resident applicant to satisfy this psychological assessment with a virtual psychological assessment, as specified, or approve this examination with a provider located within 75 miles of the applicant’s residence.

This law prohibits the issuance of a CCW license if an applicant provides any inaccurate or incomplete information in connection with an application for a license, a license renewal, or an amendment to a license. The law requires a licensee to inform the local authority that issued the license of any restraining order or arrest, charge, or conviction of a specified crime.

• [As currently amended, the 3 in 30 provision would take effect only if an appeals court overturns the federal district court decision in Nguyen v ] This law increases the number of firearms that a person can apply to purchase within any 30-day period from one to 3 and would prohibit delivery of a firearm by a dealer if the dealer is notified by the Department of Justice that the purchaser has made an application to purchase one or more firearms that would result in the purchase of more than 3 firearms cumulatively within the 30-day period preceding the date of the application, as specified. The bill would make a conforming change to the required firearms safety warning.

If a mandate is issued following an appeal reversing the district court’s order and judgment, this bill, on the 30th day after the issuance of the mandate, would decrease the number of firearms that can be purchased within any 30-day period to one. The bill would require the Attorney General to notify every licensed firearms dealer in California, by the 30th day after the issuance of the mandate, that the number of firearms a person may purchase within any 30-day period decreased to one. If no such mandate is issued, the bill would maintain the number of firearms that can be purchased within any 30-day period at 3.

AB 1263, as amended, Gipson. Firearms: ghost guns.

This law prohibits a person from knowingly or willfully causing another person to engage in the unlawful manufacture of firearms or knowingly or willfully aiding, abetting, prompting, or facilitating the unlawful manufacture of firearms, including the manufacture of assault weapons or .50 BMG rifles or the manufacture of any firearm using a three-dimensional printer or CNC milling machine, as specified. The bill would make a violation of these provisions a misdemeanor.

This law includes computer-aided manufacturing files as a digital instruction and include the manufacture or production of a machinegun and specified firearm components, including large-capacity magazines, as part of the definition of digital firearm manufacturing code. This law also authorizes a person who has suffered harm in California as a result of a violation of these provisions to seek compensatory damages and injunctive relief. The bill would create a rebuttable presumption that a person violated the provision of unlawfully distributing or causing to be distributed any digital firearm manufacturing code if the person owns or participates in the management of an internet website that makes digital firearm manufacturing code available for purchase, download, or other distribution to individuals, and the internet website, under the totality of the circumstances, encourages individuals to upload, disseminate, or use digital firearm manufacturing code to manufacture firearms, as specified.

This law requires, prior to completing the sale or delivery in California or to a California resident of a firearm barrel that is unattached to a firearm, firearm accessory, or a firearm manufacturing machine, a firearm industry member to comply with specified requirements,

including providing a prospective purchaser with clear and conspicuous notice that specified conduct is generally a crime in California, including manufacturing firearms to be sold or transferred to an individual without a license to manufacture firearms.

This law prohibits any person convicted of specified misdemeanor violations, including manufacturing an undetectable firearm or knowingly or willfully causing another person to engage in the unlawful manufacture of firearms, on or after January 1, 2026, from owning, purchasing, or receiving any firearm within 10 years of the conviction, and makes a violation of that prohibition a public offense punishable by imprisonment in a county jail, a fine, or by both the fine and imprisonment.

Litigation

DUNCAN V BONTA, a challenge to California’s High Capacity Magazine ban, has been distributed to the Supreme Court justices for review and is scheduled for conference on November 21.

Respectfully submitted, David Smith