Citation(s) from the GunPolicy.org literature library
Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 2024 ‘Large Capacity Magazines in California.’ Hardware & Ammunition. San Francisco, CA: Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 23 November
Relevant contents
[Editor's note: The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence regularly updates its webpages with new data as US gun regulation evolves state by state. For the most up-to-date information on US gun laws, please refer to the Giffords URL below]
Large Capacity Ammunition Magazines in California
With limited exceptions, California law prohibits any person from manufacturing, importing into the state, keeping for sale, offering or exposing for sale, giving, or lending any large capacity magazine. A "large capacity magazine" is defined as any ammunition feeding device with the capacity to accept more than ten rounds, but does not include any .22 caliber tube ammunition feeding device, any feeding device that has been permanently altered so that it cannot accommodate more than ten rounds, or any tubular magazine that is contained in a lever-action firearm. California does not ban the possession of large capacity magazines.
Upon a showing of good cause, the California Department of Justice may issue permits for the possession, transportation, or sale of large capacity ammunition magazines between a licensed California firearms dealer and an out-of-state customer. This requirement applies for only the out-of-state importation and exportation of large capacity ammunition magazines, including the transportation of such magazines as necessary to complete a transfer to or from an out-of-state source.
Large capacity magazines may be manufactured for any federal, state, or local government or law enforcement agency, or for use by agency employees in the discharge of their official duties, whether on or off duty. Large capacity magazines may also be purchased or loaned for the sole use as a motion picture, television or video prop. Such magazines may also be resold to law enforcement agencies, government agencies, or the military, pursuant to applicable federal regulations…