Skip to main content

Pen. Code, § 26705 · Article 1. License to Sell, Lease, or Transfer Firearms at Retail

Pen. Code, § 26705

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)

(a) The duly constituted licensing authority of a city, county, or a city and county shall accept applications for, and may grant licenses permitting, licensees to sell firearms at retail within the city, county, or city and county. The duly constituted licensing authority shall inform applicants who are denied licenses of the reasons for the denial in writing.

(b) No license shall be granted to any applicant who fails to provide a copy of each of the following documents:

(1) A valid federal firearms license.

(2) A valid seller’s permit issued by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration pursuant to Section 6067 of the Revenue and Taxation Code and, commencing July 1, 2024, a valid certificate of registration issued pursuant to Section 36036 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.

(3) A certificate of eligibility issued by the Department of Justice pursuant to Section 26710.

(c) A license granted by the duly constituted licensing authority of any city, county, or city and county, shall be valid for not more than one year from the date of issuance and shall be in one of the following forms:

(1) In the form prescribed by the Attorney General.

(2) A regulatory or business license that states on its face “Valid for Retail Sales of Firearms” and is endorsed by the signature of the issuing authority.

(3) A letter from the duly constituted licensing authority having primary jurisdiction for the applicant’s intended business location stating that the jurisdiction does not require any form of regulatory or business license or does not otherwise restrict or regulate the sale of firearms.

(d) Local licensing authorities may assess fees to recover their full costs of processing applications for licenses.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 231, Sec. 4. (AB 28) Effective January 1, 2024.

Source of truth

Edition
As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
Official file
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=26705.
Text hash
sha256 c6a78b44111733fa8ebe3121b08fc34663881a6ff09d6f755d75eda92b19c658
Composed by
compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section

This section cites

Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.

Cited by 2 provisions

Provisions in this library whose text cites Pen. Code, § 26705. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.