We are coming to visit multiple national and state parks in California. The trip will take several months and cover many states including California.

Clearly I don't want to take a trip like that unprotected.

so what gun can I bring?

I called the Highway Patrol and they said a handgun was fine as long as it was locked up.....that doesn't sound right to me. Since I'm visiting can I bring aG19 with regular capacity magazines (15)?

Can I bring a shotgun? I couldn't even tell the rules for those.

Also does California have a supremacy clause saying the state laws Trump city laws? Or will ever city be different?

Last question, do state, federal, and national parks all follow the state laws?

I have pretty much any gun you can think of to bring. I just need to know which one I can bring and still be legal.

Thanks guys!

So complex, too many rules.  I'll try and help but I am definitely NOT any sort of expert.

#1 rule is don't get pulled over. Just sayin'.

Just about any handgun is fine UNLESS it has a threaded muzzle or forward grip.  Then it's an "assault weapon", don't bring that.

No mags over 10 rounds.  G19 with 10rd mags is fine.  As to the "locked up" comment,  if your vehicle has a locking trunk that is sufficient.  A hatchback or SUV will require a lock box or locking case of some sort.  The glove box or center console is not sufficient.

Shotguns are fine.  I can't think of any restrictions on shotguns.  Oh, except for mag fed semiautomatic shotguns like a Saiga.  Don't bring that.

You can keep loaded mags with a weapon but if the mag is inserted it's considered loaded.  Do not transport a "loaded" weapon.

There are a lot of gun laws here.  lol

CA supposedly has state preemption laws but places like L.A. and S.F. have local rules which I don't understand.  No concealed carry reciprocity.  Carrying is more than likely forbidden unless you're LEO.

eta Come on guys, help me out.  And please correct or clarify anything I got wrong.

Just admit it, you got tired of typing.  

Your G19 is fine as long as your magazines do not hold more than ten rounds.

The CA ammunition import ban only applies to CA residents, so you can bring your own ammo, as long as you are not transferring the ammo.

Manually operated shotguns are fine.

Revolvers are fine.

Lever action rifles are fine even if their tubular magazine holds more than ten rounds.

Rimfire is fine but no detachable magazines over ten rounds.

Semiauto handguns are fine, except as listed below (1).

Semiauto rifles are fine, unless banned by name (4) and except as listed below (2).

Semiauto shotguns are fine, except as listed below (3).

Detachable magazines of any type (rifle or handgun, centerfire or rimfire) may not hold more than ten rounds.

Link to Regulations at the CA DOJ Web Site

(1)  Disallowed Semiauto Handgun Features

4.  A semiautomatic pistol that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any one of the following:
A.  A threaded barrel, capable of accepting a flash suppressor, forward handgrip, or silencer.
B.  A second handgrip.
C.  A shroud that is attached to, or partially or completely encircles, the barrel that allows the bearer to fire the weapon without burning his or her hand, except a slide that encloses the barrel.
D.  The capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some location outside of the pistol grip.
5.  A semiautomatic pistol with a fixed magazine that has the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.

(2)  Disallowed Semiauto Centerfire Rifle Features

A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any one of the following:
A.  A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon.
B.  A thumbhole stock.
C.  A folding or telescoping stock.
D.  A grenade launcher or flare launcher.
E.  A flash suppressor.
F.  A forward pistol grip.

Rifle has to be at least 30" long with the stock collapsed.
Rifle may not have a Bullet Button installed.
Rifle may not chamber a 50BMG cartridge.
Rifle cannot be on the AR/AK banned by name, see lists below (4).

(3)  Disallowed Semiauto Shotgun Features

6.  A semiautomatic shotgun that has both of the following:
A.  A folding or telescoping stock.
B.  A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon, thumbhole stock, or vertical handgrip.
7.  A semiautomatic shotgun that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine.

Shotgun cannot have a revolving cylinder.

(4)List of AR/AK Rifles Banned By Name

AR-15 Series Weapons
American Spirit - USA Model
Armalite - AR 10 (all); M15 (all); Golden Eagle
Bushmaster - XM15 (all)
Colt - Law Enforcement (6920); Match Target (all); AR-15 (all); Sporter (all)
Dalphon - B.F.D.
DPMS - Panther (all)
Eagle Arms - M15 (all); EA-15 A2 H-BAR; EA-15 E1
Frankford Arsenal - AR-15 (all)
Hesse Arms - HAR 15A2 (all)
Knights - SR-15 (all); SR-25 (all); RAS (all)
Les Baer - Ultimate AR (all)
Olympic Arms - AR-15; Car-97; PCR (all)
Ordnance, Inc. - AR-15
Palmetto - SGA (all)
Professional Ordnance, Inc. - Carbon 15 Rifle; Carbon 15 Pistol
PWA - All Models
Rock River Arms, Inc. - Standard A-2; Car A2; Standard A-4 Flattop; Car A4 Flattop; NM A2 - DCM Legal; LE Tactical Carbine
Wilson Combat - AR-15

AK Series Weapons
AK-Y 39; AK-F 39; AK-C 47; AK-F 47
American Arms – Arsenal; SLR (all); SLG (all)
B-West - AK-47 (all)
Hesse Arms -  Model 47 (all)
Wieger STG 940 Rifle
Inter Ordnance - Monroe, NC – RPK; M-97; AK-47 (all)
Kalashnikov USA - Hunter Rifle / Saiga
MAADI CO - AK 47; ARM; MISR (all); MISTR (all);
Made in China - 84S; AKM; 86S; AKS; 56; AK; 56S; AK47; MARS; Pistol
Mitchell Arms, Inc. - M-90; AK-47 (all); AK-47 Cal .308 (all); M-76; RPK
Norinco - 86 S; 86 (all); 84 S; 81 S (all); 56; RPK Rifle - NHM 90, 90-2, 91 Sport; AK-47 (all); MAK 90; 56 S; Hunter Rifle
Ohio Ordnance Works (o.o.w.) - ROMAK 991; AK-74
Poly technologies – AKS; AK47
Valmet - Hunter Rifle; 76 S
WUM - WUM (all)

Your red rider. But only 10 bbs at a time.

Sorry couldn’t resist

Try harder next time, this is serious stuff.

Yes I totally missed the threat to national security. My bad

Also any shotguns with a revolving cylinder.  To clarify, the over 10 rounds magazine limitation applies to detachable magazines.  Tubular magazines for rimfires can exceed 10 rounds and can also exceed 10 rounds for non semi automatic center fire rifles, like lever guns.

https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/firearms/pdf/cfl2016.pdf

This should start to answer your questions on travel, storage, carry at a temporary residence, like a campground, etc.

Federal law allows for carry in national parks, forests, etc., in compliance with state laws.  Since California doesn't recognize reciprocal carry, concealed carry would, for the most part, not be an option.  Open carry options are limited so if not engaged in an activity which would require/allow for legal carry, like hunting, legal target shooting, etc.,  generic open carry is also not allowed.  Possession of loaded firearms is prohibited essentially in all units of the state park system except when allowed for hunting.  Firearms not having a cartridge in any portion of the mechanism, other unloaded weapons or devices such as traps, nets, and bows and arrows may be possessed within temporary lodging or mechanical mode of conveyance when such implements are rendered temporarily inoperable or are packed, cased, or stored in a manner that will prevent their ready use.

While likely legal, carrying openly at your "campground" as a temporary residence in a national forest or national park could well cause a lot more "interest" than needed.  Obviously a remote campsite in the desert or well away from others is a different situation than might be a wall to wall crowded campground in a popular national forest or park area like Yosemite valley camps, etc.

They apply to fixed magazines as well, except for the tubular magazines specified.  An SKS with a 20-round fixed magazine would not just make the SKS an AW< but would also involve a violation of the magazine capacity law.  Without getting into the AW issue, having a hi-cap fixed magazine on a bolt action rifle like the FR-8s I've seen fitted with a large-capacity fixed magazine of some kind would involve breaking the law.

Thanks for the help guys. Really appreciate it.

Can I bring my own ammo? I thought I read I had to buy the ammo in California?????

Now to find some neutered magazines...

The import ban only applies to CA residents, as long as you're not transferring the ammo.

That is also good info, bigstick61.  I have updated my massive post above with all your inputs.  A quick copy & paste of that post should suffice in the future when this question gets asked again.

It may be disturbing to you as a Georgia boy, but General Sherman is looked at favorably as a historical figure here.  In 1856 he was appointed Major General of the State Militia and was instrumental in one of the first attempts to kick the Committee of
Vigilance out of San Francisco.  However, he was stymied by a crooked Quartermaster Chief and a Governor who couldn't get things done.    So Sherman went back to St. Louis and then to Louisiana.

They also named a plant of some significance in Sequoia National Park after the General.

Which leads to the following, if you are in a National Park and find yourself in a situation between your self and a large furry, almost wooly, animal with four legs , who may or may not be wearing blue jeans and carrying a shovel.  In the evenings and off times, might not be wearing anything, if it seems you need to defend yourself, just shoot yourself.  That will make life easier for all involved and save your heirs and assigns all kinds of time and money in cleaning up your mess.  In the parks, animals are always right and people are always wrong.

Down here in SoCal the sympathies were much stronger for the Confederacy.  In El Monte there was even a Confederate museum.  Could still be there, but I haven't seen it since I was a kid.  I also don't spend much time in that area, though.  Gen. Johnson was escorted out of California to the Confederacy by a Los Angeles-based CA State Militia Unit.  There were a substantial amount of southern transplants down here back then and the Confederacy also got a lot of sympathy among the Californios (Hispanics).

That ain't nothing... Get this. I was born less than half a mile from Sherman's childhood home.

And I lived in Covington, GA which is the only city that wasn't burned because Sherman's mistress lived there.

Yeah, not particularly relevant to the thread at hand but the story of the escape/evacuation/escort of General Johnston out of California to Texas is quite worth looking up.  The California State Military Museum has an interesting write up on the event.  IIRC.  Likewise the rather wide ranging and interesting experience with militias, etc., in California between the Gold Rush and Civil War.

Get this... @gajeep94y I grew up in Conyers, GA. Right next door. I know you Covington boys mighty well :)

Been out here 3yrs now (job at Stanford). If you’re near San Jose, shoot me a PM for a free beer!