Don Hammond
Sep 24, 2025
Firearm Barrels Transfers will Require an FFL & Background Check
Current Status: SB 704 has passed both houses of the California legislature and was presented to Governor Newsom on September 17. He has 12 days to sign it or veto it. If he does neither, it will become law without his signature.
Beginning July 1, 2027, all transfers of firearm barrels will have to go through a licensed firearms dealer, commonly known as an FFL. This means that California residents will no longer be able to purchase a barrel online and have it delivered to their door.
It took me a while to figure out why the legislature would want to do this. But I was looking at AB 1263 and it dawned on me that barrels cannot be printed at home on a 3D printer. So, someone printing a firearm at home would still have to acquire a barrel. This bill is an effort to combat illegal 3D printing of firearms without serial numbers, commonly called "ghost guns."
This seems to be a "throwing the baby out with the bathwater" kind of situation. I get the need to combat 3D printing of ghost guns, but many law abiding gun owners order barrels through various websites to put into their lawfully-owned firearms.