Plain English Breakdown
The official text does not provide a specific effective date beyond 'on and after July 1, 2026' in the metadata section.
Firearms Law Changes Regarding Converter Pistols
This law bans licensed dealers from selling certain pistols that can be easily turned into machineguns and treats those converted guns as illegal machineguns.
What This Bill Does
- Prohibits licensed firearms dealers from selling, offering for sale, exchanging, giving, transferring, or delivering any semiautomatic machinegun-convertible pistol starting July 1, 2026.
- Defines a 'machinegun' to include any machinegun-convertible pistol that has been equipped with a pistol converter.
- Sets penalties for dealers who break the new sales ban: a fine for a first violation; a fine and possible license suspension or revocation plus removal from Department of Justice lists for a second violation; and a misdemeanor charge, mandatory license revocation, and removal from Department of Justice lists for a third violation.
- Allows certain pistols already on the safety roster as of January 1, 2026 to be modified into machinegun-convertible models without meeting specific safety requirements if they are submitted for testing by an independent certified laboratory before January 1, 2027.
Who It Names or Affects
- Licensed firearms dealers in California
- Manufacturers and sellers of semiautomatic machinegun-convertible pistols equipped with converters
- The Department of Justice regarding firearm rosters and enforcement
Terms To Know
- Machinegun-convertible pistol
- A semiautomatic pistol with a cruciform trigger bar that can be readily converted by hand or common household tools into a machinegun using a pistol converter.
- Pistol converter
- A device attached to the rear of a pistol slide that replaces the backplate, interferes with the trigger mechanism, and enables the pistol to shoot automatically more than one shot by a single function of the trigger.
Limits and Unknowns
- The law does not specify which pistols qualify for the testing exception beyond those listed on the roster as of January 1, 2026 that were previously exempt from certain safety requirements.
- Changes to Section 3273.50 of the Civil Code will only take effect if both this bill and AB 1263 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.