You can register an unregistered gun in California by completing and submitting a Firearm Ownership Report (FOR) Application. This voluntarily declares that you are the owner of the firearm. However, this form cannot be used to register an assault weapon.
A FOR Application is not required for most firearms. The dealer will have registered them during the sale. However, there are reasons to register a firearm on your own. A registered gun that is lost or stolen may be returned to the person listed on the form. If the gun is unregistered, it will not be returned.
Submitting a FOR Application could also lead to legal trouble. You could be accused of possession of an assault weapon. The person who sold or gave you the weapon could also be charged with illegally transferring a firearm. The form can be used as evidence.
The Firearm Ownership Report (FOR) Application is a legal form. It goes to the California Department of Justice (DOJ). The form is also known as the BOF 4542A. By filling out and submitting the form, you voluntarily register a firearm. You are declared its legal owner.
To fill out the form, you need to provide information about yourself, including:
You will also have to provide information about the firearm you are declaring:
There is space for declaring ownership of 3 firearms on each application form. If you want to declare ownership of more than 3, you can attach additional copies of the form.
You will have to pay a $19 processing fee for each FOR Application.
The form can be mailed to:
Department of Justice
Bureau of Firearms – FOR
P.O. Box 820200
Sacramento, CA 94203
This form cannot be used to register an assault weapon. Assault weapons generally cannot be registered in California anymore.
You can register an unregistered gun in California by filling out and submitting a Firearm Ownership Report (FOR) Application.
No, there is no legal requirement that a firearm has to be registered unless:
Handguns that were legally bought in California are already registered. They were registered by the dealer. You are the registered owner of these firearms. Your information was collected during the background check.
Long guns that were legally bought in 2014 or later in California are also registered. Those bought legally before then may not be.
Firearm owners moving to California have to register their firearms within 60 days. They use a different form – the New Resident Firearm Ownership Form.
Submitting a FOR Application makes you the official owner of the firearm.
If the firearm is lost or stolen, and then found, it will be returned to you. If the gun is not registered, there will be no official owner. It will not be returned to you if it is not registered.
You can request a list of firearms registered in your name. You can get it by submitting an Automated Firearms System Records Request Form.
The form has to be:
You can mail the form to:
Department of Justice
Bureau of Firearms
AFS Private Citizen Request
P.O. Box 820200
Sacramento, CA 94203
Assault weapons cannot be registered in California, anymore.
State law set ownership and registration periods for assault weapons. This included Browning Machine Guns (BMG). All of those registration windows have passed. 1
If you claim ownership of an assault weapon, or any illegal weapon for that matter, you could face charges of illegal possession of a firearm. Assault weapons are illegal to possess in California. Only those that were registered during the registration windows are exempt. If you fill out a FOR Application listing an assault weapon and send it to the DOJ, it can be used as evidence against you.
Illegal possession of an assault weapon is a wobbler in California. It can be prosecuted as a felony or a misdemeanor.
If prosecuted as a misdemeanor, a conviction carries up to:
If pursued as a felony, the potential jail time is 16 months, 2 years, or 3 years. 3
A FOR Application can also be used as evidence of the illegal sale of a firearm. California law requires that all gun sales be completed through a licensed dealer. 4 The FOR Application asks how you obtained the weapon. The answer may be used as evidence that you got the gun illegally. The person who sold or transferred the gun could be charged with a crime.
Illegally selling a firearm is a misdemeanor. The penalties can include up to:
For more information, refer to the following:
