October 31, 2000 Update
The public comment period for the revised proposed regulations has ended.  All comments received by the department have been summarized and responded to in a document titled "Final Statement of Reasons."  On October 27, 2000, this document, along with the final regulations, was submitted to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) for review.  The OAL review period will take approximately 30 working days.  Upon review and approval of the rulemaking package by OAL, the regulations will be filed with the Secretary of State, where they will become operative 30 calendar days after filing.

September 9, 2000
The Firearms Division is proposing regulations to implement handgun safety testing and laboratory certification requirements as provided in Senate Bill (SB) 15 (Chapter # 248, Statutes of 1999). The contents of the draft regulations are now open for public comments. The public comment period for these proposed regulations will end at 5:00 pm October 23. The process for the submission of comments is detailed in the Notice of Rulemaking Action.

Effective January 1, 2001, each handgun model must pass safety/functionality tests and be certified by the California Department of Justice before that model may be sold or manufactured within California. Certain types of handguns are exempt from this requirement, such as curios/relics and antiques. Certain types of transfers are also exempt from this requirement, such as private party transfers and transfers to law enforcement.