A qualifying misdemeanor conviction in California triggers a 10-year firearm ban under Penal Code 29805, meaning you cannot own, buy, receive, or possess any firearm for a decade from the date you were convicted. The same prohibition reaches ammunition, requires you to surrender your guns within 48 hours, and in some domestic violence cases quietly becomes permanent rather than temporary.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 29805
What the Ban Actually Covers
For 10 years from your conviction date, you cannot own, purchase, receive, or have any firearm under your possession or control.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 29805 Possession is read broadly. You don’t have to be holding the gun. A firearm in your house, your car, or a safe you have access to counts, even if it belongs to someone else who left it there. Every type of firearm is covered: handguns, rifles, shotguns. A broken or non-functional firearm still qualifies.
The ammunition rule sits in a separate statute but moves with the firearm ban. Penal Code 30305 bars anyone prohibited under 29805 from owning or possessing ammunition, including reloaded ammunition.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 30305 California runs a background check on ammunition purchases, so the system will flag you. Old rounds sitting in your garage are their own criminal offense during the prohibition period.
The ban also applies before any conviction in one specific situation: if there’s an outstanding warrant against you for a qualifying misdemeanor and you know the warrant exists, possessing a firearm is already illegal.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 29805
Which Misdemeanor Convictions Trigger It
Only certain misdemeanors activate 29805, and the list has grown over the years. The qualifying offenses cluster into a few categories.
Violence and physical harm: simple assault (Section 240), assault with a deadly weapon (Section 245), battery (Section 242), battery against a spouse or cohabitant (Section 243), sexual battery (Section 243.4), assault with a stun gun (Section 244.5), and assault on school employees (Section 245.5).1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 29805
Threats and intimidation: criminal threats (Section 422), stalking (Section 646.9), witness intimidation or tampering (Sections 136.1 and 136.5), threatening public officials or school employees (Sections 71 and 76), and threatening use of a weapon of mass destruction (Section 140).
Domestic violence and protective orders: corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant (Section 273.5), and violating a protective order (Section 273.6). Section 273.5 has its own permanent-ban rule for convictions on or after January 1, 2019, discussed below.
Weapons offenses: brandishing a weapon (Section 417), carrying a concealed weapon (Sections 25300 and 25800), negligent discharge (Section 246.3), shooting at an inhabited dwelling or vehicle (Section 247), firing a gun from a car (Section 26100), and theft of a firearm charged as grand theft under Section 487.
More recent additions: unsafe firearm storage around minors (Sections 25100, 25135, and 25200) for convictions on or after January 1, 2020, plus misdemeanor child abuse (Section 273a), elder abuse (Section 368), and possessing an unregistered ghost gun (Section 29180) for convictions on or after January 1, 2023.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 29805
When “10 Years” Is Actually Forever
Two overlays can turn a 10-year ban into a lifetime one, and both catch people off guard.
The first is inside 29805 itself. Subdivision (b) imposes a lifetime California firearm prohibition on anyone convicted on or after January 1, 2019, of misdemeanor corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant under Section 273.5. The statute uses “subsequently” rather than “within 10 years,” so the ban never expires.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 29805 A misdemeanor domestic battery under Section 243(e)(1) carries the standard 10-year rule; a conviction under Section 273.5 after that date does not. That gap drives much of what gets negotiated in domestic violence plea discussions.
The second overlay is federal. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9), anyone convicted of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” is permanently barred from possessing any firearm or ammunition.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts The federal definition requires use or attempted use of physical force, or threatened use of a deadly weapon, against a current or former spouse, cohabitant, co-parent, or someone in a similar domestic relationship.5Legal Information Institute. 18 USC – Misdemeanor Crime of Domestic Violence Definition A California misdemeanor for spousal battery under Section 243(e)(1) or corporal injury under Section 273.5 can trigger both the state ban and this permanent federal one. Your California clock can run out while the federal prohibition continues indefinitely. A narrow exception exists for a single conviction involving only a dating partner, where the federal ban lifts five years after the later of conviction or completion of sentence.
Surrendering Your Firearms: The 48-Hour Rule
At your conviction, the court will tell you that you are prohibited and order you to relinquish your firearms and ammunition. You will receive a Prohibited Persons Relinquishment Form, on which you name a designee to handle the actual transfer.6California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 29810
If you’re not in custody after conviction, your designee has 48 hours to dispose of every firearm you own, possess, or control. If you spend any part of the 48 hours after conviction in custody, the window extends to 14 days. Your designee must be either a local law enforcement agency or a non-prohibited third party you’ve given power of attorney for this purpose. The designee can surrender the firearms to law enforcement, sell them to a licensed dealer, or transfer them to a dealer for storage. Any sale proceeds belong to you.
Your designee then has to submit the completed form and receipts to your assigned probation officer within the same timeframe. If you don’t own any firearms, you still submit the form stating that. Skipping the process is where people land in deeper trouble: if the court finds probable cause that you failed to turn in a firearm, it can issue a search warrant.6California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 29810
When the 10 Years End
The clock starts the day of conviction, not the day you finish probation or pay your fine.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 29805 No court order starts it, and none ends it. After 10 years without any new disqualifying conviction, the California prohibition lifts automatically. You don’t petition, you don’t receive a certificate.
Automatically is a word to be careful with here. Before buying a firearm after the state ban lifts, confirm no other prohibition still applies. If your original offense was a domestic violence conviction, the federal Lautenberg ban likely survives beyond the California window. And a new conviction for any disqualifying offense during the 10-year period resets the clock.
Penalties If You’re Caught With a Gun During the Ban
Possessing a firearm while prohibited under 29805 is a wobbler: the prosecutor can file it as a misdemeanor or a felony. The statute allows up to one year in county jail, a fine up to $1,000, or both. Filed as a felony, the sentence is served in state prison, and because 29805 doesn’t specify a prison term, the default felony range under Penal Code 18(a) applies: 16 months, two years, or three years.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 29805
The felony outcome is worse than the added jail time suggests. A felony conviction for firearm possession triggers a lifetime ban under Penal Code 29800, replacing whatever time was left on your 10-year prohibition with a permanent one. It also creates a felony record that follows you into employment, housing, and licensing decisions. Prosecutors weigh factors like whether the firearm was loaded, whether you were in public, and your prior record when deciding how to charge.
Early Relief Is Limited to Peace Officers
There is no general petition to shorten the 10-year ban for most people. The one narrow exception is Penal Code 29855, which lets a peace officer whose job requires carrying a firearm petition for relief after a misdemeanor conviction for corporal injury (Section 273.5), protective order violation (Section 273.6), or stalking (Section 646.9).7California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 29855
Even for eligible officers, relief isn’t automatic. The court must find the officer is likely to use a firearm safely, has no prior 29805 conviction, and falls into no other prohibited category. An officer may petition only once, and the court will typically require counseling as a condition. If you’re not a peace officer, no comparable petition exists under current California law to end the 10-year period early.