Tyranny Surcharge: Let’s Add Up How Much More Californians Pay to Exercise Their Gun Rights

As a bit of a sneak preview of an upcoming amicus brief I’m working on for the Second Amendment Foundation, let’s take a look at how much more it costs to buy a handgun in California compared to most of the rest of the country using a Walther PDP compact pistol as an example.

As you can see above, a standard PDP compact with a 15-round magazine retails for $530 on Bass Pro’s website.

But Bass Pro also lets you select the California-compliant model instead, which comes with the state-mandated loaded chamber indicator, magazine disconnect mechanism, and 10-round limited capacity magazines. Those unwanted but required “features” turn a $530 gun into a $650 gun.

That’s an additional $120, but wait…we’re only just getting started.

California also required a background check for every gun purchase. In most other states, that background check is free. But California charges a $31.19 Dealer Record of Sale fee, a $1 Firearms Safety Act Fee, and a $5 Safety and Enforcement fee, a total of $37.19 for the background check.

We’re still not finished. In 2023, California enacted an 11% excise tax on firearms and ammunition. This tax applies in addition to the standard sales tax, and adds another $71.39 to the price of a California-compliant PDP compact.

For first-time buyers will also need a Firearm Safety Certificate. That’s another $25, though the certificate is good for five years and won’t be needed for each purchase after that (unless you lose it).

In total then, factoring in the price difference of a California-compliant version of a typical gun, the background check fee, the excise tax, and the price of the Firearms Safety Certificate, a new gun owner will pay $252.58 more for their Walther PDP compact than they would in most other states thanks to California’s hostility to the Second Amendment. Even subtracting $25 if they already have an FSC, that’s about 42 percent more to exercise the same enumerated civil right as Americans pay in most of the rest of the country.

Oh, and every time you buy ammunition, you’ll pay an additional $5 for the state-mandated background check and an 11% excise tax on top of that, too (plus regular sales tax). And we won’t even talk about how much it can cost you to get a carry permit, depending where you live in the formerly Golden State.

 

Kostas Moros is Director of Legal Research and Education for the Second Amendment Foundation. This post was adapted by SNW from an article posted at X.