What is an "other" firearm under California law?

Before 2020, section 30515 had paragraphs for rifles, pistols, and shotguns. A firearm that fit none of those three types was not covered by the characteristic-based definitions. SB 118, a budget-related public safety bill, "would expand the definition of 'assault weapon' to include a semiautomatic firearm that is not a rifle, pistol, or shotgun," in the words of the Legislative Counsel's Digest (SB 118).

The Department of Justice (DOJ) calls the result an "other" category of assault weapons (DOJ regulations page).

Under PC 30515(a), "assault weapon" includes a semiautomatic centerfire firearm that is not a rifle, pistol, or shotgun and that meets any one of these tests:

Paragraph (9): no fixed magazine, plus any one of the following:

1. A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon.
2. A thumbhole stock.
3. A folding or telescoping stock.
4. A grenade launcher or flare launcher.
5. A flash suppressor.
6. A forward pistol grip.
7. A threaded barrel, capable of accepting a flash suppressor, forward handgrip, or silencer.
8. A second handgrip.
9. A shroud that is attached to, or partially or completely encircles, the barrel that allows the bearer to fire the weapon without burning the bearer's hand, except a slide that encloses the barrel.
10. The capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some location outside of the pistol grip.

Paragraph (10): a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.

Paragraph (11): an overall length of less than 30 inches.

The list in paragraph (9) combines the six rifle characteristics from paragraph (1) with the four pistol characteristics from paragraph (4). "Fixed magazine" has the same meaning throughout the section: a feeding device that cannot be removed without disassembly of the firearm action (PC 30515(b)).

The statute defines the "other" category by what it is not. A DOJ regulation supplies definitions for two of the excluded types (11 CCR 5471):

• Rifle: a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder, that fires a single projectile through a rifled bore for each pull of the trigger (subdivision (ee)).
• Pistol: any device designed to be used as a weapon, from which a projectile is expelled by the force of an explosion or other form of combustion, and that has a barrel less than 16 inches in length (subdivision (y)).

The registration regulations say these section 5471 definitions apply to the "other" category rules (11 CCR 5486(e), DOJ text). The same regulations state that DOJ "will not register rifles, pistols, shotguns," or rifle and shotgun combinations as other category assault weapons (11 CCR 5487, DOJ text).

SB 118 added a registration path and a matching exception to the possession crime:

• A person who lawfully possessed one before September 1, 2020, and was eligible to register, was required to "submit an application to register the firearm before January 1, 2022" (PC 30900(c)(1)).
• Section 30605, the possession offense, does not apply to a person who lawfully possessed the firearm before September 1, 2020, was eligible to register it, and "registers the assault weapon by January 1, 2022, in accordance with subdivision (c) of Section 30900" (PC 30685). The two sections word the same deadline differently: section 30900(c)(1) says "before January 1, 2022" and section 30685 says "by January 1, 2022."
• Joint registration among family members was not permitted for this category (PC 30955(b)).

DOJ's regulations were filed on September 15, 2021, and set the registration period from October 1, 2021, to 11:59 p.m. on December 31, 2021 (DOJ regulations page). DOJ's information page now reads: "Registration is now closed" (DOJ "Other" page).

One date differs between sources, and the statute controls. DOJ's pages describe the definition as "effective September 1, 2020," and they have not been changed to match the bill. The bill took effect immediately on approval, August 6, 2020, and the statute uses September 1, 2020, only as the cutoff for lawful prior possession (SB 118, section 44; PC 30685).

A registered "other" is a registered assault weapon, so the general rules of the chapter apply:

• Where it may be possessed: only under the conditions in PC 30945.
• Changes after registration: DOJ says that under 11 CCR 5491(b) the release mechanism must remain on the firearm and may not be altered except for repair or like-kind replacement (DOJ FAQ).
• Inheritance: a person who obtains title by bequest or intestate succession has 90 days to render it permanently inoperable, sell it to a licensed gun dealer, obtain a DOJ permit, or remove it from the state (PC 30915).
• Sale or transfer: selling, giving, or lending an assault weapon is a felony except as the chapter provides (PC 30600).

The district court's 2023 decision in Miller v. Bonta addressed assault weapons "defined in" section 30515(a)(1) through (8) (decision). Paragraphs (9) through (11), the "other" paragraphs, are not in that range.