Northbay Shooters

i live in the sonoma county area and have been wanting to register to own a handgun for quite some time now.
but i dont know where to get started..
if anyone can help me out in guiding me through this i will highly appreciate it.

i am 23 yrs old, never been convicted of crimes and have a stable mind lol.
where do i go to register? (location,phone number i can call....)
any help is appreciated. thanks

`You do not have to register to own a hand gun. In fact you do not have to register a handgun. BUT in CA when you buy a pistol and long gun you have to, in most cases, go through a FFL01 and have the gun and you go through a check called DROS. If all is OK then 10 days later you can pick up the gun. If it is a pistol then you need a Handgun Safety Cert. This is a very basic test about hand gun handling. When you pick the pistol up then you need to show the FFL01 you know how to handle the gun. This is another basic function, loading, unloading, keeping pointed in safe direction and ect. The hard part is finding a gun you want to buy first. I would recommend you take a gun handling course if this is a first time you had anything to do with pistols. Any other problems just ask

jerry

well i just want something small for the house.
we have gotten a few break in's.
im looking at a ruger lcp 380 or something small in its price range.

so what do i have to do?
print out a form and fill it out?
or go to a gun store, purchase the gun and start from there?
sorry im a newbie to this

OK for home defense that is a whole different discussion.

You as a normal citizen can not buy the LCP from a store. It is not on CA "Not unsafe list". If you want to buy an automatic for Home Defense be sure to practice clearing jams and misfires. A revolver maybe better for a first gun.

General info:
As for the pistol find the one you want from the gun store and buy it. Tell him that this is your first pistol and start the paperwork. You will need an ID and a current bill with your name and address on it to prove you are a CA resident. When you pick the pistol up 10 days later you will need a CA locking system which you have purchased no longer than a month ago with the receipt, or buy one from the dealer. The lock should be about $10. Also the dealer should be able to give you the HSC test in the store prior to releasing the gun. There are a bunch of BS laws but they will walk you through them.

Which store has the gun you want?

jerry

well, i havent seen it at the stores. but ice been browsing through gunbroker.com and found quite a few ruger lcp 380s for under $300.
i am a fan of smaller handguns so anything similar would be great.

so i have to buy a gun lock before i buy the gun?
i will probably do this today.

all is fair. i understand the government doesnt want crazy people running around town with a gun doing who knows what.
im up for the tests and safety laws.

As above... the Ruger LCP is not available for sale in California. The only people who can buy an LCP in CA are active law enforcement officers. You can not buy an LCP, or any other handgun not on the approved California roster, on Gunbroker from an out of state seller and import it. The only way you could get an LCP as a California resident is to purchase one second hand through private party transfer (PPT) from a law enforcement officer who wants to sell theirs.

If you are determined to have a .380, the Bersa .380 is a good alternative. It's gotten good reviews from users (as opposed to just from gun writers) and is priced reasonably. As far as ammo, the new Hornady Critical Defense round appears to give excellent performance from live fire testing I've seen. I use Federal Hydra Shok ammo in pretty much all my defensive applications, including .380, but that ammo has become next to impossible to find as it is widely issued by law enforcement agencies.

All that said... if you are new to handguns and your focus is self defense, I always advocate a revolver. .38 Special or .357 Magnum, firing .38 +P ammo.

Regarding the gun lock... if the gun you are buying is not furnished with one, you need to purchase a California approved lock within the 30 days prior to taking delivery of the handgun you are purchasing. You have to provide a copy of the cash register receipt. Most dealers will sell you a lock on the spot, if you don't have one.

You might want to check the list of Sonoma County dealers listed in the Get Connected forum on this site. The only ones I would stay away from are Helm's, because they tend to treat customers like dog dirt on the bottom of their shoe, and Western Sport Shop, because they do not handle any handgun transactions by store policy. Also, Big 5 stores do not carry handguns or transact handgun purchases.

If you around Petaluma, any of the three dealers listed can square you away with minimal fuss. In the Santa Rosa area, Ron over at Suron Enterprises is rock solid as are the folks at Markell. The only caveat on Markell is that he carries a lot of stuff you can't buy because his clientele is predominately law enforcement officers. He might even have an LCP in the case... but you couldn't buy it.