Reporting Lost & Stolen Guns In California - Giffords

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Owner Responsibilities

Reporting Lost & Stolen Guns in California View Policy Area Last updated December 31, 2023 .

California law requires individuals to report the loss or theft of a firearm to local law enforcement in the jurisdiction where the loss or theft occurred within five days of the time they discovered or reasonably should have discovered the loss or theft.1 Beginning July 1, 2026, this will also apply to finished and unfinished frames and receivers.2

Licensed California firearms dealers are also required to report the loss or theft of any firearm or ammunition within 48 hours to the appropriate law enforcement agency in the city, county, or city and county in California where the dealer’s business premises are located.3

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1. Cal. Penal Code § 25250, enacted by Proposition 63.[↩]
2. Cal. Penal Code § 16520(b)(13); see Cal. Penal Code § 22949.61(e)(1), defining a “firearm precursor part” as “any forging, casting, printing, extrusion, machined body, or similar article that had reached a stage in manufacture where it may be readily be completed, assembled or converted to be used as the frame or receiver of a functional firearm, or that is marketed or sold to the public to become or be used as the frame or receiver of a functional firearm once completed, assembled, or converted.”[↩]
3. Cal. Penal Code § 26885(b).[↩]

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