California BOF 053: Request Firearm Records, Notarize, and Mail

The BOF 053 firearm records request is how a California resident asks the Department of Justice for a copy of the Automated Firearms System (AFS) entries filed under their name. You download the form from the DOJ, complete it, sign it in front of a notary, and mail it to the Bureau of Firearms in Sacramento with a photocopy of your ID and a check for the processing fee. Only the person named in the records can submit the request.¹

Try CFARS Before You Mail Anything

If you have, or can create, a California Firearms Application Reporting System (CFARS) account, you may not need the paper form at all. The DOJ’s online portal lets you view your firearm account history on screen and print it, with no notary and no fee.² BOF 053 is the right tool when you want an official mailed report from the Bureau or when CFARS is not an option for you.

What to Gather Before You Start

Pull the current BOF 053 PDF from the DOJ firearms forms page at oag.ca.gov/firearms/forms. Using an older copy saved on your computer risks submitting a superseded version.³

Have these ready before you sit down with the form:

A government-issued ID. The form accepts a California driver license, California identification card, military ID, or out-of-state ID. You will need the card itself at the notary and a clear photocopy for the envelope.¹
Firearm details, if you want to look up specific guns rather than everything on file. Make, model, serial number, and caliber are the useful fields.
Payment by check or money order payable to the Department of Justice. Cash is not accepted. Confirm the current fee by checking the DOJ firearms page or calling the Bureau before you mail.⁴

Filling Out the Form

The form itself is short. Work through the personal information section at the top:

Full legal name — last, first, middle — exactly as it appears on your ID.
Aliases. List any prior legal name, maiden name, or nickname that could show up on a past transaction. The search runs against the names on file, so an alias you leave off is a record you may not see.
Date of birth in month/day/year format.
Your California driver license, California ID, or military ID number in the ID box.

The firearm information section underneath is optional. Leave it blank for a complete list of everything in the system under your name. Fill it in only when you want to verify specific guns, and include at minimum the serial number and make, which are the most reliable identifiers in the database.

Read the declaration at the bottom before you sign. Do not actually sign it yet. The notary has to watch you do it.

Getting It Notarized

The Bureau will not process BOF 053 without a notarized signature.¹ The notary confirms you are the person in the records and completes the Certificate of Acknowledgment attached to the form. Bring the physical ID; a photocopy will not satisfy the notary.

California caps the notary fee for an acknowledgment at $15 per signature.⁵ Banks, UPS stores, law offices, and shipping centers commonly have notaries on staff, and mobile notaries can come to you. A signature you added at home voids the notarization because the notary cannot certify a signing they did not witness, so the Bureau will send the submission back.

Where to Mail It

Put three things in the envelope: the completed, notarized form; a clear photocopy of your valid ID; and your check or money order for the processing fee. Send it to:

Department of Justice
Bureau of Firearms
AFS Private Citizen Request
P.O. Box 820200
Sacramento, CA 94203-0200¹

Incomplete packages and packages missing payment come back unprocessed. Before you seal the envelope, check that the notary seal is legible, the photocopy of your ID is clear enough to read every line, and your check is signed. Certified mail is not required but gives you proof of delivery.

Processing takes several weeks. The report comes back by standard mail to the address you put on the form, so write the address where you can actually receive mail. If your check clears and nothing arrives in a reasonable window, call the Bureau of Firearms.

What the Report Shows

The report lists every firearm currently tied to your name in AFS. Each entry typically shows the make, model, caliber, serial number, and the date the transaction was recorded.⁶ Entries come from Dealer’s Record of Sale (DROS) transactions, voluntary ownership reports, and law enforcement entries.

The report is a snapshot of the current database, not a guaranteed full history of everything you have ever owned. Two gaps are worth knowing about:

Long guns bought from a dealer before January 1, 2014. Until AB 809 took effect on that date, the DOJ was prohibited from retaining DROS data for rifles and shotguns, so earlier long gun purchases may not show up.⁷⁸
Private-party transfers that never went through a dealer. If a firearm was never processed through a licensed dealer, it may not be in AFS at all.

Fixing Errors in What Comes Back

If the report shows a gun you no longer own, lists incorrect personal information, or is missing a firearm you know was registered, there is a path to correct it. For name, address, or date-of-birth corrections, use the Automated Firearms System personal information update feature inside your CFARS account.⁶

For a firearm still showing under your name after you transferred it through a dealer, contact the Bureau of Firearms. The dealer who handled the transfer should have submitted a DROS that moved the gun off your record; if that step was missed, you may need documentation such as the transfer receipt, the buyer’s information, or the dealer’s records to get the database corrected. The DOJ will not discuss your specific records by phone, so disputes generally move through written correspondence or whatever process the Bureau outlines in its response letter.⁹

1
California Department of Justice. Automated Firearms System Request for Firearm Records
2
State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Firearms Reporting and Law Enforcement Release Application
3
State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Forms and Publications
4
State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Bureau of Firearms – Contact Us
5
California Secretary of State. California Notary Public Handbook
6
State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Automated Firearms System Personal Information Update
7
State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Frequently Asked Questions
8
California Legislative Information. AB 809 Assembly Bill – Chaptered
9
State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Bureau of Firearms