California Pistol List: Exemptions, Removals, and Roster Checks

The California handgun roster, officially the Roster of Certified Handguns, is the state’s list of handgun models that licensed dealers are allowed to sell. As of mid-2025 it holds roughly 930 models, and since 2001 no handgun may be sold by a dealer, manufactured in California, or imported for sale unless it appears on the list or qualifies for a specific exemption. Selling an uncertified handgun is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in county jail, and reselling an off-roster handgun obtained through an exemption can bring a civil penalty of up to $10,000.¹

How to Check Whether a Handgun Is on the Roster

The California Department of Justice runs a free public search tool at oag.ca.gov. No account or credentials are needed, and it is the authoritative source for confirming a model is legal for retail purchase.²

Filter by manufacturer, model, and caliber. Read the listing carefully. The same model name in a different barrel length or frame material may not be covered, and each entry shows a certification expiration date, so a model you saw last year may already be inactive. The DOJ also keeps a separate page of removed and expired models. Check both before you make the trip to a dealer.³

Exemptions for Off-Roster Handguns

If the handgun you want is not on the roster, one of the following exemptions is your only legal route to buying it in California.

Private Party Transfers

Two California residents can transfer a handgun to each other through a licensed dealer even when the model is not on the roster. Both parties go to the dealership in person, the dealer runs the background check and processes the paperwork, and the roster restriction simply does not apply to the sale.⁴

Intrafamilial Transfers

Transfers between immediate family members are exempt from both the roster and the one-handgun-per-30-days limit. The qualifying relationships are narrow: parent to child, child to parent, grandparent to grandchild, and grandchild to grandparent. Siblings and uncle-to-nephew transfers do not qualify.

When the family member already possesses the firearm (an inheritance from a parent in-state, for example), the new owner reports the transfer to the DOJ within 30 days through the California Firearms Application Reporting System. The recipient must hold a valid firearm safety certificate and be at least 18.⁵

Peace Officer Purchases

Sworn peace officers may buy off-roster handguns for duty or personal use. The exemption covers state and local police, sheriff’s deputies, and federal agents stationed in California. The resale rules are stricter than many buyers assume. Officers from the largest agencies (police departments, sheriff’s offices, state and federal agencies) can generally resell an off-roster handgun to any eligible buyer through a licensed dealer. Officers from smaller or specialized agencies, like county probation or parks department investigators, can only resell to other sworn officers, and some agency categories cannot resell at all.⁶

Criminal penalties can attach to anyone who transfers a non-roster handgun outside these channels, so both buyer and seller should verify the officer’s agency classification before anything changes hands.⁶

Qualifying Single-Action Revolvers

Single-action revolvers that meet certain dimensions are exempt from roster testing. The revolver needs at least a five-round cylinder, a barrel of at least three inches, and an overall length of at least 7.5 inches measured parallel to the barrel when fully assembled. Pre-1900 single-action revolvers that qualify as curios or relics under federal regulations are exempt regardless of size.⁷

Curios and Relics

Handguns classified as curios or relics under federal regulations can be bought and sold regardless of roster status. These are generally firearms over 50 years old or of recognized historical significance as determined by the ATF, and the modern safety-feature requirements that apply to contemporary handguns do not reach them.⁴

Other Transactions

A few other situations fall outside the roster. Returning a firearm from a pawn or consignment arrangement through a licensed dealer is exempt, as is handing a handgun over to a dealer for repair and getting it back. Semi-automatic pistols used solely as props in film, television, or video productions are exempt for the duration of the production.⁴

Why Your Model May Not Be on the List

Penal Code Section 31910 defines what makes a handgun “unsafe” and therefore ineligible. Every handgun must pass both a firing test and a drop-safety test. Revolvers need a safety device that keeps the firing pin off the primer at rest. Semi-automatic pistols need a manual safety that meets federal ATF import standards, and any new model seeking certification after July 1, 2022 must also include two more features:⁸

A chamber load indicator that gives a visual or tactile signal when a round is seated.
A magazine disconnect that prevents firing when the magazine is removed, even if a round is chambered.

Pistols already on the roster before that July 2022 date are grandfathered and do not need to be retrofitted. The two new requirements only hit models seeking certification after it.⁸

California has also enacted a microstamping requirement, which engraves microscopic characters onto the firing pin so they transfer to spent casings. It has been tied up in litigation and delayed implementation for years. As of 2026, no handguns on the roster use verified microstamping technology, though a California DOJ report has deemed the technology viable and the mandate is expected to take effect for new semi-automatic pistols beginning January 1, 2028.

How Handguns Get Removed

The most common reason a model vanishes from the roster is that the manufacturer stops paying the $200 annual maintenance fee due each January 1. Non-payment lets the DOJ remove every model from that manufacturer, and once removed a model can no longer be sold, offered for sale, imported, or manufactured in California.⁹³

Design changes also trigger removal. Any modification, mechanical or cosmetic, can invalidate the original test results. The state treats a modified version as an entirely new model that needs its own testing and certification.

If you have already started a transfer on a handgun that gets de-listed for non-payment while your background check is processing, the dealer can still complete the delivery. If the handgun is removed for a safety-related reason under Section 32020(d), the transfer is blocked and the dealer cannot deliver it.⁹

Why the Roster Keeps Shrinking

The roster has been contracting for years. Roughly 930 models remain, a fraction of what is available in most other states. The requirements for new models keep getting stricter while grandfathered models gradually fall off as manufacturers discontinue them or stop paying renewal fees. Because no new semi-automatic pistol can realistically meet the chamber load indicator and magazine disconnect requirements alongside the anticipated microstamping mandate, very few new models are being added, so the list only gets smaller.²

Federal litigation challenging whether the roster requirements, particularly the microstamping and magazine disconnect mandates, impose an unconstitutional burden on the right to keep and bear arms is ongoing. A federal district court issued a preliminary injunction in 2023, and the case remains on appeal. The outcome could reshape which handguns are available in California, but the roster and all its requirements remain in effect for now.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code Penal Code 32000
2
Office of the Attorney General. Handguns Certified for Sale
3
Office of the Attorney General. Removed Handgun Models
4
California Legislative Information. California Code Penal Code 32110
5
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 27875
6
Office of the Attorney General. State Exemptions for Authorized Peace Officers
7
Justia. California Code Penal Code 32100-32110
8
California Legislative Information. California Code Penal Code 31910
9
California Legislative Information. California Code Penal Code 32015