California’s imitation firearm and BB device law treats any realistic-looking replica, airsoft gun, or BB device as a regulated object: it must carry specific markings, it can’t be openly displayed in almost any public place (including inside a parked car), it can’t be sold to minors, and if you use one in a crime you face the same penalties as if it were real. The rules sit mainly in Penal Code § 16700 and the sections that follow, with additional marking requirements added by Senate Bill 199 in 2014.
What California Counts as an Imitation Firearm
Penal Code § 16700 defines an imitation firearm as any device so similar in appearance to an existing firearm that a reasonable person would perceive it as real.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 16700 – Imitation Firearm That sweeps in replica guns, most realistic toy guns, and BB devices. A BB device, under California law, is any instrument that expels a projectile using air pressure, gas pressure, or spring action, regardless of what the projectile is made of.
Several categories are carved out of the commercial restrictions in § 20165:
- Non-firing collector replicas that are historically significant and sold with a wall plaque or presentation case.
- Spot marker guns that fire projectiles greater than 10mm, such as standard paintball guns.
- Air guns expelling projectiles in sizes other than 6mm or 8mm.
- 6mm or 8mm airsoft guns that meet SB 199’s fluorescent marking standards.
- Devices whose entire exterior is white, bright red, bright orange, bright yellow, bright green, bright blue, bright pink, or bright purple, or that are made entirely of transparent or translucent material.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 16700
The bright-color exemption catches people out. The whole exterior has to be an approved color. An orange tip on an otherwise black airsoft gun meets the federal minimum but does not qualify for this California exemption.
Marking Requirements: Federal Baseline and SB 199
Federal law sets the floor. Under 15 U.S.C. § 5001, no one may manufacture, ship, or sell a toy, look-alike, or imitation firearm unless it has a blaze orange plug permanently inserted in the barrel, recessed no more than 6 millimeters from the muzzle.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 5001 – Penalties for Entering Into Commerce of Imitation Firearms Traditional BB guns, pellet guns, and paintball guns are exempt from the federal marking rules. California does not grant the same exemption for 6mm and 8mm airsoft guns.
SB 199, signed in 2014, added state-level marking requirements aimed at those airsoft calibers. For an airsoft handgun, the device must have all three of these: the blaze orange barrel ring federal law requires, fluorescent coloring over the entire trigger guard, and a two-centimeter-wide adhesive band with fluorescent coloring around the circumference of the protruding pistol grip.4California Legislative Information. SB 199 Senate Bill – Chaptered
For airsoft rifles and other long guns, the required markings are the orange barrel ring, fluorescent coloring over the entire trigger guard, and a two-centimeter-wide fluorescent adhesive band around the circumference of any two of the following: the protruding pistol grip, the buttstock, or a protruding ammunition magazine.4California Legislative Information. SB 199 Senate Bill – Chaptered
An airsoft gun that meets every one of these marking requirements falls outside the imitation firearm definition for purposes of commercial sale restrictions. One that doesn’t is treated as an imitation firearm and sits inside the full regulatory scheme.
Don’t Alter or Cover the Markings
Penal Code § 20150 makes it a misdemeanor to remove, change, or cover up the required coloring or markings on an imitation firearm or BB device in a way that makes it look more like a real gun.5California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 20150 – Imitation Firearms California’s general misdemeanor penalty applies: up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.6California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 19
This is one of the most commonly violated provisions. Hobbyists sometimes paint over orange tips or fluorescent bands for a more realistic look. The moment they do, they’ve committed a crime.
Where You Can’t Display an Imitation Firearm
Penal Code § 20170 flatly prohibits openly displaying or exposing any imitation firearm in a public place.7California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 20170 California defines “public place” broadly:
- Streets, sidewalks, parks, and bridges
- Front yards and driveways
- Parking lots
- Any automobile, whether moving or parked
- Buildings open to the general public, including restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues
- Doorways and entrances to buildings or dwellings
- Public schools and public or private colleges and universities7California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 20170
The vehicle rule is the one most people miss. An airsoft gun sitting on the back seat of a car parked on a public street counts as open display, even if the device is legally marked and lawfully owned.
Penalties escalate under § 20180. A first offense is an infraction with a $100 fine. A second is $300. A third or later violation is a misdemeanor, carrying up to six months in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000.8Justia Law. California Penal Code 20150-20180 – Imitation Firearms – Section: 20180
When Open Display Is Allowed
Section 20175 lists more than a dozen situations where openly carrying an imitation firearm is permitted. The ones most relevant to ordinary owners:
- The device is packaged or concealed so it isn’t visible to the public.
- Display during commerce, commercial film or video production, or while the device is being serviced or repaired.
- Use in motion pictures, television, stage productions, and similar creative work.
- Use at certified shooting ranges, sanctioned competitions, or lawful hunting and pest control.
- Parades, flag ceremonies, color guards, historical reenactments, and memorial events.
- Authorized displays at public or private schools or as part of a museum collection.
- Devices whose entire exterior is an approved bright color, or those built from transparent or translucent material. An orange tip alone does not qualify.9California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 20175
For anything that doesn’t fit one of these exceptions, the safe approach is a closed, opaque bag or case where no part of the device is visible.
Pointing One at Someone: Brandishing
Displaying an imitation firearm in a threatening manner is handled under Penal Code § 417.4. Anyone who draws or exhibits an imitation firearm in a threatening way that would cause a reasonable person to fear bodily harm is guilty of a misdemeanor carrying a mandatory minimum of 30 days in county jail. The statute carves out actual self-defense situations, but there is no exception for the fact that the gun was fake.
Pointing an airsoft gun at someone during an argument, waving one in traffic, or using one to intimidate a neighbor results in jail time even when everyone involved knew the device was not real. And if police respond believing the threat is genuine, the danger to the person holding the device is well documented.
BB Devices on School Grounds
Penal Code § 626.10 prohibits bringing any instrument that expels a metallic projectile, including a BB or pellet gun, onto the grounds of any public or private school serving kindergarten through twelfth grade. It’s a wobbler, meaning prosecutors can file it as a misdemeanor or a felony. A misdemeanor conviction carries up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000. A felony conviction can carry up to three years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
A teenager who drops a BB pistol into a backpack and takes it onto campus is exposed to potential felony charges whether or not the device was ever shown or used.
Selling and Furnishing to Minors
California draws a sharp line between selling and furnishing. Under Penal Code § 19910, selling any BB device to a minor is a misdemeanor, with no parental consent workaround.10California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 19910 A retailer who sells an airsoft gun to a 16-year-old commits a crime even if the parent is standing right there.
Furnishing a BB device to a minor, meaning giving or lending one outside a commercial sale, is handled under a separate provision that does allow parental or guardian permission. A parent can buy an airsoft gun and give it to their child, and another adult can provide one to a minor with the parent’s express consent. Without that consent, furnishing is also a crime.
There is no federal minimum age for buying airsoft guns, so the California restriction is entirely state-imposed. Retailers operating in California must verify age at the point of sale.
Commercial sellers face their own exposure. Section 20165 imposes a civil fine of up to $10,000 per violation on anyone who purchases, sells, manufactures, ships, or distributes an imitation firearm for commercial purposes outside the statute’s marking and exemption rules.11Justia Law. California Penal Code 20150-20180 – Imitation Firearms – Section: 20165 A separate provision, § 20155, makes it a misdemeanor for any manufacturer, importer, or distributor to sell imitation firearms that fail to comply with federal marking rules.
Transporting and Shipping Safely
Within California, keep the device in a closed, opaque case or bag with no part of it visible. Because § 20170 treats the interior of a vehicle as a public place, leaving a BB gun on the seat or floorboard during transport violates the open display ban even on a quick trip to the range.
For air travel, the TSA prohibits replica firearms in carry-on bags but allows them in checked luggage.12Transportation Security Administration. Realistic Replicas of Firearms The final decision on any specific item is made by the TSA officer at the checkpoint, so realistic-looking devices should always go into checked bags regardless of their markings.
For USPS shipments, air guns are not regulated as firearms unless they incorporate the frame or receiver of an actual firearm. Shipments containing compressed air or gas components must meet the hazardous materials packaging requirements in USPS Publication 52.13United States Postal Service. Publication 52 – Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail Private carriers like UPS and FedEx set their own policies, which often require an adult signature on delivery for anything resembling a firearm.
Using an Imitation Firearm During a Crime
This is where the stakes jump. Under federal sentencing guidelines, imitation firearms are treated the same as real guns for sentencing enhancements. A BB gun used in a robbery triggers the same firearm enhancement a loaded pistol would.14United States Sentencing Commission. Primer on Firearms Offenses (2025)
California state courts follow the same logic. Prosecutors routinely file armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon charges based on imitation firearms, and courts have upheld those charges on the reasoning that the victim’s fear is identical whether or not the weapon is real. Using any imitation firearm to commit a crime exposes the person holding it to the same prison time as using a real one.