Type 03 FFL for California residents

About

Starting Jan 1, 2018, all ammunition purchases in California are required to be made from a licensed vendor in person. People who have Type 03 FFL with CA Certificate of Eligibility are exempt from this requirement.

Type 03 FFL

Type 03 FFL is a Federal Firearm Licence type for Collectors of Curios and Relics.

COE

A Certificate of Eligibility (COE) certifies the Department of Justice (DOJ) has checked its records and determined the recipient is not prohibited from acquiring or possessing firearms at the time the firearms eligibility criminal background check was performed.

Other usage

In addition to the ability to buy ammunition without involving a licenced vendor, people who possess Type 03 FFL and CA COE may also:

See more details at "Laws" section.

Cons

Laws

Exemptions provided to persons who are licensed as a collector of firearms are listed in California Penal Code.

Penal Code 26585

CA PC 26585 exempts deliveries of C&R firearms made by collectors to dealers from going through DROS.

26585.
Section 26500 does not apply to the delivery of an unloaded firearm that is a curio or relic, as defined in Section 478.11 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations, if the delivery satisfies all of the following conditions:
(a) It is made by a person licensed as a collector pursuant to Chapter 44 (commencing with Section 921) of Title 18 of the United States Code and the regulations issued pursuant thereto.
(b) It is made by a person with a current certificate of eligibility issued pursuant to Section 26710.
(c) It is made to a dealer.

Penal Code 26970

CA PC 26970 provides an exemption to 10 day waiting period regulated by PC 26815 when obtaining C&R firearms from the dealer.

26970.
(a) The waiting period described in Section 26815 does not apply to the sale, delivery, loan, or transfer of a firearm if all of the following conditions are satisfied:
(1) The firearm is a curio or relic, as defined in Section 478.11 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations, or its successor.
(2) The sale, delivery, loan, or transfer is made by a dealer.
(3) The sale, delivery, loan, or transfer is made to a person who is licensed as a collector pursuant to Chapter 44 (commencing with Section 921) of Title 18 of the United States Code and the regulations issued pursuant thereto.
(4) The licensed collector has a current certificate of eligibility issued by the Department of Justice pursuant to Section 26710.
(b) On the date that the sale, delivery, or transfer is made, the dealer delivering the firearm shall transmit to the Department of Justice an electronic or telephonic report of the transaction as is indicated in Section 28160 or 28165.

Penal Code 27535

CA PC 27535 exempts collectors from one-handgun-in-thirty-day limit, regardless of C&R status of firearms.

27535.
(a) No person shall make an application to purchase more than one handgun within any 30-day period.
(b) Subdivision (a) shall not apply to any of the following:
[...]
(9) Any person who is licensed as a collector pursuant to Chapter 44 (commencing with Section 921) of Title 18 of the United States Code and the regulations issued pursuant thereto, and has a current certificate of eligibility issued by the Department of Justice pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 26700) of Chapter 2.
[...]

Penal Code 27565

CA PC 27565 provides an exemption to CA PC 27585 and allows licensed collectors to bring C&R firearms obtained outside of California in person. Shipping C&R firearms directly is prohibited since 1/1/2015 when AB-1609 went into effect.

27565.
(a) This section applies in the following circumstances:
(1) A person is licensed as a collector pursuant to Chapter 44 (commencing with Section 921) of Title 18 of the United States Code and the regulations issued pursuant thereto.
(2) The licensed premises of that person are within this state.
(3) The licensed collector acquires, outside of this state, a handgun, and commencing January 1, 2014, any firearm.
(4) The licensed collector takes actual possession of that firearm outside of this state pursuant to the provisions of subsection (j) of Section 923 of Title 18 of the United States Code, as amended by Public Law 104-208, and transports the firearm into this state.
(5) The firearm is a curio or relic, as defined in Section 478.11 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(b) Within five days of transporting a firearm into this state under the circumstances described in subdivision (a), the licensed collector shall report the acquisition of that firearm to the department in a format prescribed by the department.
27585.
(a) Commencing January 1, 2015, a resident of this state shall not import into this state, bring into this state, or transport into this state, any firearm that he or she purchased or otherwise obtained on or after January 1, 2015, from outside of this state unless he or she first has that firearm delivered to a dealer in this state for delivery to that resident pursuant to the procedures set forth in Section 27540 and Article 1 (commencing with Section 26700) and Article 2 (commencing with Section 26800) of Chapter 2.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to or affect any of the following:
(1) A licensed collector who is subject to and complies with Section 27565.
[...]

Penal Code 27670

CA PC 27670 provides an exemption for dealers to void the 10 day waiting period regulated by PC 27540 when collectors are obtaining C&R firearms.

27670.
(a) The waiting period described in Section 27540 does not apply to the sale, delivery, loan, or transfer of a firearm if all of the following conditions are satisfied:
(1) The firearm is a curio or relic, as defined in Section 478.11 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations, or its successor.
(2) The sale, delivery, loan, or transfer is made by a dealer.
(3) The sale, delivery, loan, or transfer is made to a person who is licensed as a collector pursuant to Chapter 44 (commencing with Section 921) of Title 18 of the United States Code and the regulations issued pursuant thereto.
(4) The licensed collector has a current certificate of eligibility issued by the Department of Justice pursuant to Section 26710.
(b) On the date that the sale, delivery, or transfer is made, the dealer delivering the firearm shall transmit to the Department of Justice an electronic or telephonic report of the transaction as is indicated in Section 28160 or 28165.

Penal Code 27966

CA PC 27966 provides an exemption to the requirement of using a dealer for a private party firearms transaction as specified in PC 27545. It allows licensed collectors to acquire Curio & Relic long guns and other firearms in person.

27966. Commencing January 1, 2014, if all of the following requirements are satisfied, Section 27545 shall not apply to the sale, loan, or transfer of a firearm:
(a) The sale, loan, or transfer is infrequent, as defined in Section 16730.
(b) The firearm is not a handgun.
(c) The firearm is a curio or relic, as defined in Section 478.11 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations, or its successor.
(d) The person receiving the firearm has a current certificate of eligibility issued pursuant to Section 26710.
(e) The person receiving the firearm is licensed as a collector pursuant to Chapter 44 of Title 18 of the United States Code and the regulations issued thereto.
(f) Within 30 days of taking possession of the firearm, the person to whom it is transferred shall forward by prepaid mail, or deliver in person to the Department of Justice, a report that includes information concerning the individual taking possession of the firearm, how title was obtained and from whom, and a description of the firearm in question. The report forms that individuals complete pursuant to this section shall be provided to them by the department.

Penal Code 30312

CA PC 30312 exempts collectors from using a licensed vendor when obtaining ammunition and doing ammunition transfers face-to-face.

30312
(a) (1) Commencing January 1, 2018, the sale of ammunition by any party shall be conducted by or processed through a licensed ammunition vendor.
[...]
(b) Commencing January 1, 2018, the sale, delivery, or transfer of ownership of ammunition by any party may only occur in a face-to-face transaction with the seller, deliverer, or transferor, provided, however, that ammunition may be purchased or acquired over the Internet or through other means of remote ordering if a licensed ammunition vendor initially receives the ammunition and processes the transaction in compliance with this section and Article 3 (commencing with Section 30342) of Chapter 1 of Division 10 of Title 4 of this part.
(c) Subdivisions (a) and (b) shall not apply to the sale, delivery, or transfer of ammunition to any of the following:
[...]
(6) A person who is licensed as a collector of firearms pursuant to Chapter 44 (commencing with Section 921) of Title 18 of the United States Code and the regulations issued pursuant thereto, whose licensed premises are within this state, and who has a current certificate of eligibility issued by the Department of Justice pursuant to Section 26710.
[...]

Penal Code 30314

CA PC 30314 exempts collectors from using a licensed vendor when bringing ammunition to California.

30314.
(a) Commencing January 1, 2018, a resident of this state shall not bring or transport into this state any ammunition that he or she purchased or otherwise obtained from outside of this state unless he or she first has that ammunition delivered to a licensed ammunition vendor for delivery to that resident pursuant to the procedures set forth in Section 30312.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to any of the following:
[...]
(5) A person who is licensed as a collector of firearms pursuant to Chapter 44 (commencing with Section 921) of Title 18 of the United States Code and the regulations issued pursuant thereto, whose licensed premises are within this state, and who has a current certificate of eligibility issued by the Department of Justice pursuant to Section 26710. [...]

Penal Code 31700

CA PC 31700 exempts collectors from using Firearms Safety Certificate when obtaining C&R firearms.

31700.
(a) The following persons, properly identified, are exempted from the firearm safety certificate requirement in subdivision (a) of Section 31615:
[...]
(6) A federally licensed collector who is acquiring or being loaned a firearm that is a curio or relic, as defined in Section 478.11 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations, who has a current certificate of eligibility issued by the department pursuant to Section 26710. [...]

Merchants

This list contains merchants who are willing to ship to Type 03 FFL in California as found at this CalGuns.net thread. Checkbox indicates this merchant's wares appear in Ammo Search. Green checkbox indicates that the owner of this website confirmed the shipping.

Contact

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