Federal law establishes a baseline national standard regarding individuals’ eligibility to acquire and possess firearms. Under federal law, people are generally prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms if they have been convicted of a felony or some domestic violence misdemeanors or if they are subject to certain court orders related to domestic violence or a serious mental condition. However, federal law merely provides a floor. It has notable gaps that allow individuals who have demonstrated significant risk factors for violence or self-harm to acquire and possess guns legally.

California’s state law firearm prohibitions are generally much broader than federal law and cover many of these gaps.

Under state law, California generally disqualifies a person from purchasing, acquiring, or possessing firearms if the person:

• Has been convicted of a felony, certain domestic violence crimes, or is addicted to narcotic drugs;¹

• Has been convicted of any one of several enumerated crimes (including both felonies and misdemeanors) involving violence, hate crime offenses, child or elder abuse, the unlawful misuse of firearms, or violation of California laws regarding safe storage of firearms around minors and people who cannot legally access guns. (People convicted of these specified misdemeanor offenses are generally prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms for a period lasting ten years after conviction);² Beginning in 2025, people convicted of misdemeanor animal abuse will also be banned from having firearms for ten years.
• Knows that they are subject to an outstanding arrest warrant for a firearm-prohibiting criminal offense;³

• Knows they are subject to a protective order, restraining order, temporary restraining order, or injunction issued by a court, including California’s Domestic Violence Restraining Orders, Gun Violence Restraining Orders, Civil Harassment Restraining Orders, Workplace Violence Restraining Orders, Elder and Dependent Adult Abuse Restraining Orders, and Private Postsecondary School Violence Restraining Orders.⁴ (See the California Judicial Branch’s guide for information about utilizing these orders; also see the pages entitled Domestic Violence & Firearms in California and Extreme Risk Protection Orders  for further information);
• As an express condition of probation, is prohibited or restricted from owning, possessing, controlling, receiving, or purchasing a firearm;⁵
• Is adjudged a ward of the juvenile court because the person committed an offense involving violence, drugs or firearms (including the carrying of a concealed firearm, the carrying of a loaded firearm in public or the possession of a firearm in a vehicle, regardless of whether the firearm was concealed or loaded). The prohibition stays in effect only until the person reaches age 30;⁶

• Is disqualified because of a history of severely impairing mental illness or chronic alcoholism, including individuals found by a court to be a danger to self or others as a result of mental illness, found mentally incompetent to stand trial, found not guilty by reason of insanity, and those adjudicated to be a “mentally disordered sex offender”. ⁷
• Effective July 1, 2024, for the term of pretrial diversion for a criminal offense, poses a significant danger of causing personal injury to themselves or another by possessing a firearm, and that prohibition is necessary to prevent this injury;⁸

Any person who becomes prohibited from owning or possessing firearms under California law or other laws has several options. They can (1) surrender the control of the firearms to a law enforcement agency, (2) Sell or transfer to a licensed firearms dealer, (3) Transfer the firearm to a licensed firearms dealer for storage during the duration of the prohibition, ⁹or (4) sell or transfer the firearms to a nonprohibited third party with whom the prohibited person does not live using a licensed firearms dealer. ¹⁰ A dealer may charge the owner a storage fee and must notify the California Department of Justice of the date that the dealer took possession of any firearms acquired in this manner.

Under California law, a person over the age of 18 who shares a residence with another individual who the person knows or has reason to know is prohibited by state or federal law from possessing, receiving, owning, or purchasing a firearm, must safely secure any firearm he or she owns in the shared residence by ensuring that:

• The firearm is securely stored ¹¹
• The firearm is carried or readily controlled by the lawful owner or another lawful authorized user ¹²

For more information on laws regarding the safe storage of firearms in California, see the section entitled Child Access Prevention & Safe Storage in California.

For information on the background check process used to enforce these provisions, see the section entitled Background Check Procedures in California.

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1. Cal. Penal Code § 29800(a).[↩]
2. Cal. Penal Code §§ 23515, 29800(a); 29805; 29900-29905.[↩]
3. Cal. Penal Code §§ 29800(a)(3); 29805(a)(2).[↩]
4. Cal. Penal Code § 29825(a), (b) (referencing Cal. Civ. Proc. Code §§ 527.6, 527.8, 527.85, Cal. Fam. Code § 6218, Cal. Penal Code §§ 136.2 or 646.91, Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15657.03), and Cal. Penal Code § 18205.[↩]
5. Cal. Penal Code § 29815.[↩]
6. Cal. Penal Code § 29820.[↩]
7. See Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code § 8103.[↩]
8. Cal. Penal Code § 1001.36(m).[↩]
9. Cal. Penal Code § 29830.[↩]
10. Cal. Penal Code § 28050.[↩]
11. See Cal. Penal Code § 25145, as amended by SB 53, defining securely stored. Until 2026, the law operates similarly how the law is described here, but explicitly exempts firearms (1)maintained in locked containers, disabled, (2) disabled by a firearm safety device, (3) maintained within a locked gun safe, or (4) maintained within a locked trunk. See Cal. Penal Code § 25135[↩]
12. See Cal. Penal Code § 25145 (c)(3) defining readily controlled and § 16745 defining authorized user[↩]