Category: Uncategorized

Today, 12/14, is the last day to purchase firearms and take delivery in time for Christmas! We will close early on Christmas Eve, so get in before 2PM if you’d like to put a gun under the tree for yourself the elf!

Also please be aware that AO Sword Firearms will have a brief closure in the middle of the day on Tuesday, 12/15, from 1:30-2:30. The new California Covid lockdown busted our plans for a staff Christmas Party, so we have adapted and improvised to give our team a little Christmas cheer with an hour lunch to relax together during the Essential Business day. Sorry for any inconvenience; please schedule your visit accordingly on Tuesday.

When transporting a handgun in a vehicle, California law requires the firearm to be secured, unloaded, in a “locked container.” But what does that mean in practice? At the time of this writing, we are seeing daily videos of shocking acts of violence against random drivers by mobs around the country. Just up the coast from San Diego, in Santa Monica, a June 2020 cell phone video documented a mob pulling random drivers (including an elderly man) from their cars and beating them. For those without CCW permits, there have been many questions from the public regarding legal transportation of handguns while in their cars.

To answer this question, we need to look at both CA state and ATF federal laws.

Federal Law:

What qualifies as a secure gun storage or safety device? (ATF Website)

CA State Law:

Transporting a gun in California (CA DOJ Website)

1. Under California law a concealed handgun can legally be transported with a motor vehicle without a permit only by carrying it:

1. • Unloaded
   • Locked in the vehicle’s trunk or in a separate locked container other than the utility or glove compartment
   • If the vehicle does not have a trunk, it must be carried in a “locked container” separate from the utility or glove compartment.
2. Penal Code Section 12026.1 defines “locked container” as a secure container that is fully enclosed and locked by a padlock, key lock, combination lock, or similar locking device. Locked container does not include the glove compartment or utility compartment.
3. Ammunition cannot be attached to the handgun in any manner. Under most circumstances, a firearm is considered loaded when there is a live round of ammunition “…in, or attached in any manner to, the firearm, including, but not limited to: in the firing chamber, magazine or clip thereof attached to the firearm…” For example, a semi-automatic handgun with an empty firing chamber and a loaded magazine inserted in the magazine well is considered loaded. There is no prohibition in the state codes against also carrying ammunition within the same motor vehicle or compartment in the vehicle, as long as the firearms are not loaded and ammunition is not attached in any manner to the firearm. – Penal Code Sections 12025, 12026, 12031.
4. “Utility compartment” is not defined in the Penal Code. A handgun should not be transported in the center console (even if locked) or in the storage area present behind the rear seat in most hatchback type automobiles. Because of the uncertainty in current California law, it is inadvisable to use the various storage compartments found in sport utility vehicles.
5. While it is legal in California to carry an unloaded handgun in plain sight in the passenger compartment, it is not advised. It can lead to unfavorable attention and an encounter with the police. If the gun slips between the seats or otherwise out of sight, it is no longer “in plain sight” and therefore illegal.
6. Penal Code Section 12026.2 states that carrying a handgun in your car even in a locked container is only for the purpose of transporting from one specific location to another (going to the range, going hunting, etc.). It is illegal to carry a firearm without a permit, even in a locked container in your car, for general purposes such as self-defense.
7. These requirements for handguns also apply to the transportation of “assault weapons” and .50 BMG rifles.
8. When driving a motor home, it is treated as a motor vehicle and all requirements listed above apply.

One important takeaway from these laws is that a “locked container” is not strictly defined other than its attributes. While we are not attorneys and therefore not qualified to offer legal advice, we can say that on the face of it, the Penal Code does not rule out soft sided cases. It does however rule out carrying a locked firearm around without a specific destination; it cannot be transported continuously for the purposes of self defense per PC 12026.2. So, if you are carrying it to and from home and work, to and from the range, gunsmith, or any other location where it is legal to possess and carry the firearm, it is acceptable under the code. On the other hand, it would be hard to rationalize transporting a locked firearm to and from the grocery store. See PC 25505-25655 for a list of the specific exempted activities and destinations.

With many recent first-time purchasers surprised by the identification and documentation required to purchase a firearm in CA, we have provided this step-by step list of the items you’ll need before you come down to the store. If you do not have these items with you (emailed copies of qualifying bills are accepted), you will not be able to start your background check.

• To buy any gun in CA, you need a valid CA ID with your CURRENT ADDRESS on it.
  • Look at your ID. If the top right corner says FEDERAL LIMITS APPLY, you must also have a Passport, Green Card, or US Birth Certificate
  • If your ID has the wrong address, you need a current/valid document from the GOVERNMENT with your current address.
    • Car Registration
    • Municipal Water Bill
    • CA DMV Driver’s Record Printout
    • CA Fishing or Hunting Permit, if it includes your address
• If you made it this far, you can buy a rifle or shotgun

• If you want to buy a HANDGUN, you also need a second proof of residence at your current address.
  • Any physical services like utilities can work. If your license has your correct address, you can use your vehicle registration or other item from the previous list as your second proof of address.
    • Can use a recent bill from Water, Cable/Internet, SDGE Power, Mortgage or Deed to house, etc.
    • Can’t use insurance, federal tax, VA, medical, etc.

• You’ll need to have a CA Firearm Safety Certificate (FSC).
  • You may obtain an FSC here by paying $25 and taking a 30-question True-False/Multiple Choice test. You can miss up to 7 questions and still pass. $26 laminated. The FSC is good for 5 years from the date of issue. Lost cards might not be replaceable, so be sure to keep track of it!

• MILITARY EXEMPTION: if you are active duty stationed here, you need your military ID, copy of your orders with PCS (not TDY) to CA, and one bill or piece of mail tying you to an address in California.

In order to maintain our highest levels of service to our clients while also providing for the health and safety of our team members, we will be closed on Mondays for the next few weeks. [ NOTE: As of May 2020 we are back on our normal Monday – Saturday schedule]

We have faced quite a bit in the past two weeks as a community. Amidst the unprecedented national actions of social distancing, economic shutdown, and stay-at-home orders, we confronted radical politicians head-on in the media, leading the fight to ultimately obtain the “Essential Business” designation for the Firearms Industry from the Trump Administration, the DHS, the County of San Diego, and the City of El Cajon. As a result, we’ve been able to serve thousands of customers over the past three weeks – including our nation’s military and local law enforcement – with the very essentials of our protected 2nd Amendment rights.

It has been an overwhelming flood of work, and we are blessed, proud, and thankful to serve you, our clients, guests, and neighbors. Taking Mondays off will allow our team members a well-deserved reprieve from almost three straight weeks of double overtime, ensuring guns and ammo continue to flow into the hands of our community’s law-abiding citizens who have – now more than ever – sought to protect their lives and their families with the equalizing tool of a gun in the hands of a good person.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve you, and we appreciate your grace in waiting a day if you happened to be scheduled for a pickup on a Monday. We will be happy to serve you on Tuesday!

AO Sword Firearms provides an essential service to the community in the area of public safety and security, and is therefore open during the COVID-19 stay-at-home order. We have the utmost concern for the health and welfare of our staff and clients, so we have implemented several controls in accordance with the State and County social distancing orders:

• No more than 6 guests in the store at one time.
• Chairs placed 6 feet apart have been provided for the line outside; please maintain the 6′ space between people by order of the Health Department.
• Cleaning and disinfection of public areas is occurring frequently.
• Employee accommodations have been made to preserve their health.

We have also made some operational changes during this unprecedented rush. We are currently closing the line at 4PM on weekdays and 2PM on Saturday. No one who joins the line after 4PM will be served. Unfortunately, we are also too busy to answer the phones, now. We are directing our priority to keeping the wait times down as much as possible for those who have invested their time coming to the shop.

Thank you for your patience and understanding during this challenging time. We will weather this uncertain season together, as a community – hopefully with lots of new 2nd Amendment advocates on the other side, now that so many of them have realized a good guy with a gun improves public safety!

Through his unusual combined experience in a wide range of professional firearm disciplines (retail sales, gunsmithing, instruction, and real-world applied combatives), David has applied his personal touch to some of the most popular handguns we sell at AO Sword Firearms. Since the California Safe Handgun Roster limits our choices of handguns in this state, David has thoughtfully and methodically created customized packages for his favorite handguns, upgrading them into high quality precision instruments for personal defense, competition, or duty use.

Each Signature Edition handgun has been carefully designed as a complete system, for a specific purpose, without pricing the end result out of the typical shooter’s budget. David has hand-selected each upgrade part, and in some cases he has designed innovative, exclusive modifications to address a specific attribute of the handgun that he felt needed improvement. The result is a custom handgun that has been professionally designed and hand-tuned with components that have been field-proven to work together in harmony towards a specific design goal.

Click here to find out more about our Signature Edition handguns!

By popular demand (and getting outed on the Gun Sports Radio show on KCBQ), we have finally added information on our popular firearms training classes and services to the website. Check out this link for a taste of our course offerings. You’ll be amazed by the amount of information you’ll get in a half-day class, thanks to our hands-on, personal approach to instruction as well as the experience and proficiency of our instructors.

The CA regulations for home-built firearms (also known as 80% builds or “ghost guns”) have been published. CA will not receive another update to the registration laws prior to the June 30th deadline, so the DOJ proposed regulations are effectively what we have to go on. Leading up to this point, multiple laws and Penal Code sections have added nuanced restrictions and exemptions to registration, leaving the public quite confused as to what really must be registered, and how. The final proposed AB857 regulations leave absolutely no doubt: all home-built firearms in the state of California must be serialized and registered with the state.

This link documents the published regulations for self-manufactured firearms. While there has been much debate on CA Internet gun forums and dealers specializing in 80% firearms, the regulations are spelled out in black and white:

§ 5509. Persons Affected by These Regulations.
Subdivision (a) clarifies that these regulations apply to an individual who owns a self-manufactured or self-assembled firearm as of July 1, 2018. This subdivision is necessary because it states who is being regulated. The Department seeks to record the existence of all selfmanufactured or self-assembled firearms that currently exist in the state of California. This subdivision is necessary to indicate the Department’s intent to the public of its objective to record all self-manufactured or self-assembled firearms in California.

The exact nature of the registration and the requirements for serialization depend upon the specific firearm, as follows:

• Self-Built Firearms that are not BBAWs (so-called Bullet Button Assault Weapons) may have an owner-created serial number applied to them in accordance with federal ATF requirements (linked here). The owner must use the Voluntary Registration form available here to register the firearm with the self-created serial number by July 30, 2018. This would include most handguns, and featureless or magazine-locked semiautomatic rifles requiring the receivers to be split in order to remove the magazine.
• Self-Built Firearms that will be registered as BBAWs must have a CA DOJ FMBUS serial number assigned to them and engraved upon the firearm . For expediency, we recommend requesting a FMBUS serial number by downloading this form, filling it out according to these instructions, and then scanning it and emailing it to DOJSerialNumber@doj.ca.gov. That’s only step one – you must then apply the FMBUS number to the firearm according to the ATF requirements linked above, and then perform the BBAW registration. Therefore, this step should be completed as soon as possible, because the turnaround on serial numbers has been anywhere from 1 day to 5 weeks. If it goes long, you won’t have time to engrave your firearm before the June 30th deadline.
• The BBAW registration of a FMBUS-serialized firearm may be performed on the CFARS website.
• Beginning July 1, 2018, no person without an 07 FFL in CA may construct a home-build firearm without applying for permission and a serial number from the state before beginning construction.

There have been many amateur interpretations of the law, penal code, and published regulations suggesting that there are exemptions to the law, and that self-serialized firearms do not have to be registered. These opinions are incorrect, and do not take into account the specific limitations of each exemption. § 5508(d) and § 29181(a) or (d)  are often cited because the self-applied serial number is already on the firearm. However, all these sections specify that they only apply when the serial numbers were applied by licensed firearms manufacturers. Thus, unlicensed persons building personal firearms do not qualify.

The NRA-ILA and CRPA agree with our guidance; see the Institute for Legislative Action’s March 19, 2018 article documenting their objection to these overreaching regulations. While there was some early hope after 2016’s Gunmageddon that self-applying ATF-compliant markings on the gun could avoid registration requirements, the published regulations have clearly eliminated that option.

Bottom line: as of 7/1/2018, there is no legal way to be in possession of an unregistered self-built firearm in California, regardless of whether it is unserialized or self-serialized. By law, all self-built firearms must be registered.