(a) Any person who claims title to any firearm that is in the custody or control of a court or law enforcement agency and who wishes to have the firearm returned shall make application for a determination by the Department of Justice as to whether the applicant is eligible to possess a firearm. The application shall include the following:
(1) The applicant’s name, date and place of birth, gender, telephone number, and complete address.
(2) Whether the applicant is a United States citizen. If the applicant is not a United States citizen, the application shall also include the applicant’s country of citizenship and the applicant’s alien registration or I-94 number.
(3) If the firearm is a handgun, and commencing January 1, 2014, any firearm, the firearm’s make, model, caliber, barrel length, handgun type, country of origin, and serial number, provided, however, that if the firearm is not a handgun and does not have a serial number, identification number, or identification mark assigned to it, there shall be a place on the application to note that fact.
(4) For residents of California, the applicant’s valid California driver’s license number or valid California identification card number issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles. For nonresidents of California, a copy of the applicant’s military identification with orders indicating that the individual is stationed in California, or a copy of the applicant’s valid driver’s license from the applicant’s state of residence, or a copy of the applicant’s state identification card from the applicant’s state of residence. Copies of the documents provided by non-California residents shall be notarized.
(5) The name of the court or law enforcement agency holding the firearm.
(6) The signature of the applicant and the date of signature.
(7) Any person furnishing a fictitious name or address or knowingly furnishing any incorrect information or knowingly omitting any information required to be provided for the application, including any notarized information pursuant to paragraph (4), shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) A person who owns a firearm that is in the custody of a court or law enforcement agency and who does not wish to obtain possession of the firearm, and the firearm is an otherwise legal firearm, and the person otherwise has right to title of the firearm, shall be entitled to sell or transfer title of the firearm to a licensed dealer.
(c) Any person furnishing a fictitious name or address, or knowingly furnishing any incorrect information or knowingly omitting any information required to be provided for the application, including any notarized information pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a), is punishable as a misdemeanor.
(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 745, Sec. 72. (AB 809) Effective January 1, 2012.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018