The Wire · CalGunHub

Firearm excise tax provisions reach out-of-state retailer transfers Oct. 1

Published October 1, 2025 · Updated October 12, 2026

SB 132 provisions treat a California dealer handling an out-of-state retailer's transfer as the retailer for the state's 11 percent firearm excise tax.

Written by the CalGunHub desk from public reporting

Who this affects: Per the DOJ bulletin, these provisions apply to California dealers who process firearm transfers on behalf of out-of-state retailers. Effective Oct. 1, 2025, such a dealer is treated as the retailer for purposes of the state's 11 percent firearm excise tax under AB 28. Buyers using out-of-state sellers routed through California dealers may see the tax applied. This is general information, not legal advice.

Provisions of SB 132, a 2025 tax trailer bill chaptered as Chapter 17, Statutes of 2025, took effect Oct. 1, 2025, according to California Department of Justice Bulletin 2026-DLE-02, which lists the effective date as Oct. 1, 2025.

Under the provisions, a California dealer who transfers a firearm on behalf of an out-of-state retailer is deemed the retailer for purposes of the state's firearm excise tax, the 11 percent tax created by AB 28 in 2023. According to the DOJ bulletin, the change closes a gap in which buyers could route purchases through out-of-state sellers, with the transfer handled by a local dealer, in a way that avoided treatment as a California retail sale for excise tax purposes.

The bill itself was signed June 27, 2025, before this coverage window; the Oct. 1, 2025 operative date is the in-window event. Details in this report are drawn from the DOJ bulletin, the single source identified for this item, and the story is flagged accordingly.

California's firearm and ammunition excise tax, established by AB 28 (2023), applies an 11 percent levy on retail sales of firearms, firearm precursor parts and ammunition in the state. The SB 132 provisions address how that tax applies when the seller of record is located outside California but the physical transfer occurs through a licensed dealer inside the state, a common arrangement for online firearm purchases shipped to a local licensee.

Update: The Department of Justice summarized the change in Bulletin 2026-DLE-02, issued Jan. 30, 2026, as part of its annual roundup of new firearms laws distributed to dealers, manufacturers and vendors on the centralized list.

Informational only, not legal advice. Facts are attributed to the sources listed above.