I have a few questions about transferring a handgun from wyoming to california. so my mother purchased a handgun in wyoming and wants to gift it to me and i’m here in california . She has a Valid Wyoming and Valid California license. How should we do this legally? Can she drive over here and we take it to a FFL? Or what would be the easiest way to do it. Also im 19 that’s why its kind of complicated . Any help would be great thanks!
Wyoming to California transfer
- Thread starter Primo449
- Start date
PoorRichRichard
Active member
- Messages
- 148
Let me start by saying very cool mom!
If you both have CA IDs, you should be able to do an intra-familial transfer via paperwork with the DOJ online without all the hassle of a DROS/FFL transfer. Not sure if you’d have to wait until you’re 21 to do it this way, and if you’d have to still do all the Firearms Safety Certificate B.S.
In situations like this (especially given that you’re still only 19), I would highly advise you to contact a California based firearms attorney so you make sure you get everything done to the letter of the law.
If you both have CA IDs, you should be able to do an intra-familial transfer via paperwork with the DOJ online without all the hassle of a DROS/FFL transfer. Not sure if you’d have to wait until you’re 21 to do it this way, and if you’d have to still do all the Firearms Safety Certificate B.S.
In situations like this (especially given that you’re still only 19), I would highly advise you to contact a California based firearms attorney so you make sure you get everything done to the letter of the law.
- Messages
- 274
This is your easiest, best bet: Intra Familial transfer. We do them often, here's the guide! https://www.2azone.com/pages/intrafamilial-transfers
Librarian
Retired poltergeist - that's what I tell the IRS
CAguns Supporter
📝 Contributor
Founder
2026
2
- Messages
- 265
OP says s/he's 19, so FFL transfer does not work, either in Federal or CA law.
So, the question becomes, by what means did Mom get the gun?
She needs to be a CA resident for the CA intrafamilial paperwork to be appropriate, yet the gun seems to be in Wyoming.
So, the question becomes, by what means did Mom get the gun?
She needs to be a CA resident for the CA intrafamilial paperwork to be appropriate, yet the gun seems to be in Wyoming.
- Messages
- 274
Ah crap I missed the 19 part
- Messages
- 266
If your mother is a California resident, she cannot lawfully bring that handgun into California herself. It's a felony if she does (refer to Penal Code section 27585).
If she want to bring the weapon into California she has to have it shipped to a California FFL who can then release it to her in California. The weapon has to be on the California roster.
If she want to bring the weapon into California she has to have it shipped to a California FFL who can then release it to her in California. The weapon has to be on the California roster.
Calibreeze
Active member
- Messages
- 114
If she is a resident of both California and Wyoming she can bring it into California.
- Messages
- 5,684
- Classified ads
- 5
Is this the case? People travel with firearms all the time? Since they are hers, if she is a resident here as well, then she could dros it to herself as if she's moving here? It doesn't have to be on the roster, but she does have to be 21.
- Messages
- 266
No, she cannot LAWFULLY bring the weapon into California. Please read the statute. California residents cannot bring weapons into California that they lawfully acquired outside of California (PC 27585). It's a misdemeanor if the weapon is other than a handgun, and a felony if the weapon is a handgun (PC 27590).
The OP described his mother as possessing both Wyoming and California Driver's Licenses (that's also illegal, but a different topic). If she purchased the weapon in Wyoming before becoming a California resident, that's cool, but that was not the context of the OP's posting.
Last edited:
- Messages
- 266
PC 27585 specifies the process to be used when a California resident lawfully acquires a firearm while outside of California. That process is very similar to "DROS'ing it to herself", but the statute also provides that the weapon must be shipped to the California FFL. It cannot be delivered to the FFL by the owner and the roster DOES apply.
Here the relevant text of the statute:
"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 the person purchased or otherwise obtained on or after January 1, 2015, from outside of this state unless the person 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."
Last edited:
- Messages
- 433
Federally, it must come through a dealer. However, dealers cannot sell a handgun to you until you are 21. Although illegal due to illegal importation on the Federal level, had you just did an intrafamilial transfer online using an FSC, the CA DOJ might have still approved the transfer.
Once you are 21, you could have it sent to a dealer using the normal intrafamilial out of state transfer process, assuming your mother can lawfully purchase firearms in Wyoming given she still has a CA ID/DL, but I do not know how any of that works and I am not sure anyone cares. Until they do care.
Once you are 21, you could have it sent to a dealer using the normal intrafamilial out of state transfer process, assuming your mother can lawfully purchase firearms in Wyoming given she still has a CA ID/DL, but I do not know how any of that works and I am not sure anyone cares. Until they do care.