My dad is going to ca from TX. He wants to take a pistol with him for the trip. He wants to take his russian makarov with 8 round mags so it would be 8+1.

He would be going to LA, San Diego and San Francisco.

Would he be legal or is he better off just going without?

Thanks in advance!

Assuming it isn't an assault weapon, he should be fine.  If he transports it legally and all that.   Not that we're apt to be wrong here, but I'd suggest you and he should also be checking up on the Ca AG or DoJ site. It has information on traveling with firearms in California. Beats trying to explain how you misunderstood advice from some gun forum.

Makarovs and 8-round mags are perfectly legal.

When traveling, the gun needs to be unloaded in a locked container (loaded mags outside of the gun are fine and have no storage/carry restrictions).  Do not tell cops about the gun nor give any indication of its presence.  CA is not a duty to inform state.  At best, nothing good can come from cops knowing about guns (especially in more heavily Democratic or urban areas).  If transporting it on foot, he must be going immediately to or from an authorized location (like from his car to hotel, or going to a shooting range, or whatnot).

He can have it loaded, carried openly or concealed, within his residence (including a campsite, RV, or under some circumstances, other vehicles, when adapted to such use, such as a pickup with a tent in the bed), or on enclosed private property not open to the public if it is not prohibited by the owner.  He can also loaded open carry in unincorporated areas where discharge is lawful (which excludes all official roads, so no such carry in a vehicle unless off-road in such an area).

Obviously, any CCW permit he may have from elsewhere is not recognized here, and visitors are ineligible for non-resident permits (not that those are very common to begin with among the qualified).

Defensive laws are decent for a Democratic state, but the response to a defensive use in practice can vary by jurisdiction, with more Left-leaning or densely-populated areas tending to react more poorly to such things.  He should do some research on our UOF laws.

Illegal carry, or illegally having a loaded firearm, can be potentially charged as a felony.  Getting a gun back as a non-resident from LE after a lawful shooting or for any other reason is unlikely without some sort of lawsuit.  The gun release process here is outrageous, and among other things, requires the gun to have been registered, which is impossible for a non-resident.  Of course, better to lose a gun than his life or limb.  A Makarov shouldn't be a huge loss, though.

There's no reason not to bring it as long as he follows the laws on carry, storage, transportation, and use of force, and can avoid telling the cops about it.

@bigstick61

Huge thanks for the write up! What about the gunbeing on the approved list? I was reading something g about the yougosliavian Makarov being on the list but not russian ones. Anything to that?

The roster doesn't matter at all in this context.

All it governs is what guns can be sold by an FFL from his inventory, or imported via an FFL as the transferor (which is pretty much necessary for any resident), to most people under most circumstances, or manufactured within CA by an individual, or by a company for sale within CA.

@bigstick61

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but I'm coming and have a question, or rather clarification.

I cannot bring my 365xl with 12 round mags limited to 10 unless permanently altered correct?


ETA - I wasn't sure if the recent court ruling is still in effect saying that the magazine ban is unconstitutional from back in February if I recall correctly.

I just put in a block and leave it at that, but opinions vary.  DOJ tried to introduce a regulation defining permanence in a strict manner like many presume is the case (the law only uses the dictionary definition of "permanent"), but the regulation was withdrawn; IIRC, they were exceeding their bounds with that one.  IMO, if you have to disassemble the mag, remove a component, and reassemble the mag in order for it to be possible for it to hold more than ten rounds, then it's permanent.  Again, people disagree on the matter and have various opinions.  You'll have to use your best judgment.  I'd be fine doing it that way, but maybe you'd prefer to err on the side of caution.

The court's ruling was stayed pending appeal to the 9th Circuit.  However, the ruling grandfathered possession by those who had them in CA by the time/date specified in the stay order, or at least had them en route to California or purchased for delivery to California.  They stay offers no protection for someone visiting.

Thanks fellas. Put in a block, drove sensibly(flying with traffic around 85mph on the highway) to blend in and never had an issue.

I'll have to get a couple 10 rnd mags for future trips, but dang I hate spending that much moolah just for one purpose. Better safe than sorry I suppose.