Buying a gun in Sacramento and Northern California

Ordering a firearm online and picking it up in Sacramento is straightforward once you know the order of operations. California adds a few steps that most states do not have, and every one of them happens at the dealer rather than at our end. This guide walks through a transfer from checkout to pickup, covers Sacramento County specifics, and says what to expect on ammunition and on places to shoot.

Step one: your Firearm Safety Certificate

Get this before you order. The Firearm Safety Certificate is a 30-question written test on California firearm law and safe handling, administered by a certified instructor at a dealer; you need 75 percent to pass. The Department of Justice puts the cost at up to $25 and the certificate is valid for five years. Without a current one, your dealer cannot enter the sale, and the gun sits in their safe while you book a test.

Step two: pick your dealer

At checkout you choose the licensed California dealer who will receive the firearm. Sacramento County and the surrounding counties have plenty, including shops that do transfers as their main business. Call first and ask three things: their transfer fee, whether they accept shipments from out-of-state dealers, and what their hours are for receiving. Transfer fees vary widely in this market, and the state fees are on top of that.

If you live in Placer, Yolo, El Dorado or San Joaquin County it is often easier to use a dealer near work in Sacramento, since you have to make two trips: one to start the sale and one to collect. There is no requirement that the dealer be in your county.

Step three: the DROS entry and the wait

When the firearm arrives you go in with your California driver licence or ID card and your safety certificate. You complete the federal Form 4473 and the state Dealer's Record of Sale, and the dealer submits the entry electronically. The state fees at this stage come to about $37 on a normal sale, made up of the DROS fee plus the Firearms Safety Act and safety and enforcement charges; the dealer will quote you the exact figure.

The ten-day waiting period starts at the moment of entry and runs as ten full 24-hour periods. The Department of Justice runs the eligibility check during that window. Even if it clears on day one, the earliest you can collect is day eleven. If you do not collect within 30 days, the dealer must cancel and you start again. For a handgun you also perform a safe handling demonstration with the firearm before it leaves the counter.

What we can and cannot ship you

Handguns have to be on the Department of Justice roster for a dealer to sell them in California, so our California pages are filtered to roster models, and your receiving dealer confirms roster status before the transfer. Rifles go to California in compliant configurations under the state's assault weapons law, and every firearm leaves with magazines that hold ten rounds or fewer. If a listing is not available for California delivery, that is why.

Ammunition and parts

Ammunition cannot be shipped to a California home. A California buyer takes delivery through a licensed ammunition vendor, who runs the state eligibility check at the counter before handing the box over. That check has been in litigation, was struck down by a Ninth Circuit panel in 2025, and is being enforced while the full court decides the case, so plan on it. Optics, slings, cases, cleaning gear and most parts still ship to your door normally.

City and county rules

State law covers most of what you need to know, but Sacramento City and Sacramento County have both adopted local firearm ordinances over the years, covering things like dealer conditions and storage. If you live inside the city limits, read the current Sacramento City Code and the county code before you assume state law is the whole picture, and ask the Sheriff's Office if a specific question affects how you store or carry. We are not going to summarise a local ordinance here that may have been amended since.

Carry licences

A Sacramento County resident applies for a carry licence through the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office, or through their city police department where that agency issues. Since Senate Bill 2 the licence is shall-issue for a qualified applicant, with at least 16 hours of training, an interview, a two-year term and up to three listed handguns. Our California carry licence guide covers the detail.

Where to shoot

California is not a state with a public range system. The Department of Fish and Wildlife does not operate shooting ranges and instead points shooters to facilities run by clubs, cities and businesses. The Bureau of Land Management says it has no designated target shooting sites in California; on Cow Mountain east of Ukiah, the nearest large BLM block to the valley, target shooting is allowed only at the North Cow Mountain rifle range itself. National forest ground has its own rules that vary by forest and by fire conditions. In practice, most shooters around Sacramento join a club or use a commercial indoor or outdoor range, and it is worth calling ahead about rifle distances and steel rules.

Getting started

If this is your first California purchase, the order is: take the safety certificate test, choose your dealer, place the order, wait for delivery and the appointment, sign, wait ten days, collect. Read the California gun laws guide first, then look at the deer and wild pig guide or the waterfowl and upland guide depending on what you hunt, and find your own town on the Sacramento page or the rest of the city list.

General information, not legal advice. Current as of September 2026. Laws change; check the official source before you act.