I need some help answering a question, I am 18 and nothing prohibits me from owning a firearm, can my dad loan me his .45 pistol so I can go too the range? In california you have to be 21 to buy a handgun but I remember something about a father can give a handgun to his immediate family members? like granfather to gradson father to son.

AFAIK SB15 forbids it. Your dad has to be in the near vicinity of you and pistol. No more trying a friends gun at the range.

OTOH. Unless you do something stupid they're not checking s/n's.

This isn't quite exactly true. You cannot buy a handgun until you are 21, and if you are under 21 and get caught doing something not legal while in the possession of a handgun not registered to you, you can be charged with a firearms crime. It [i]IS[/i] legal in CA for someone under the age of 21 to [i]own and have registered to them[/i] a handgun. I gave my son a Colt 1991A1 and, for his protection, we submitted a change of ownership form to the DOJ. (he was under 21 at the time) Got a nice "thank you for registering" letter back.

If you "borrow" your dad's handgun and something happens you might be looking at trouble until they get things cleared up. Also, depending on where you go, I've heard of some indoor ranges that ask for ID and if you are under 21 they ask for proof of ownership.

If you are talking about your father lending you the pistol and letting you go to a range WITHOUT HIM BEING PRESENT that would legally be considered a "transfer" in Californistan.  Giving a firearm to your adult child (i.e. over 18) is legal.  See:
[url]http://caag.state.ca.us/firearms/pubfaqs.htm#20[/url]

You have 30 days to fill out one of these:  [url]http://caag.state.ca.us/firearms/forms/pdf/oplaw.pdf[/url]

I'm assuming you will return the gun to dad within 30 days.  A strict interpretation of the regs would say you have to do one form and pay $14 do two of of the forms and pay two $14, but if the police don't KNOW about the transactions...

HTH

You have to register handgun ownership in California?  I thought the mandatory registration was limited to Assault Weapons?  

The Caliban has imposed de facto registration of all handguns sold in the state since 1968.  They collect seller's name and address, plus make/model/serial number at the time of sale.  Private-party transfers have to go through a dealer and the whole rigamarole.

It's frightening to think how incomplete and inaccurate records could affect peoples' interaction with LEOs.  For example - If you send a pistol back to the manufacturer for warranty repairs and they return it with a different frame (i.e. different serial number) there is no requirement to nor procedure for getting the new serial number into the state's files.  You are stuck with an "unregistered" handgun.

So we don't have handgun registration, except for the registration of all handguns. [%|]

California_Kid,

In the case you've metioned, the manufacture have to send a firearm to an FFL dealer. From there you will have to register with the new serial. That what happened to me. I had to send my Glock in for a replacement on the receiver. When they sent it back, I have to pick it up at an FFL dealer and they registered with a new serial number.