The safe handling demonstration

When and where

• On or after the day the dealer submits your Dealer Record of Sale (DROS) to the DOJ, and before the firearm is delivered, so any time between the paperwork and pickup. [DOJ FAQ] [DOJ guide p.32]
• Generally at the dealer, in front of a DOJ Certified Instructor. Only a certified instructor may oversee it. [DOJ guide p.32] [DOJ FAQ]
• You do it with the firearm you are getting, or one of the same make and model. [DOJ FAQ]
• Afterwards you, the instructor and the dealer sign a Safe Handling Demonstration Affidavit (form BOF 039), which goes with the DROS. [11 CCR §4256(f)] [DOJ FAQ]

How it works

• It starts with the firearm unloaded and locked with the safety device it comes with, if it has one. [DOJ guide p.10]
• Throughout, keep muzzle awareness (pointed in a safe direction, preferably down at the ground) and trigger discipline (trigger finger outside the trigger guard, along the frame). [DOJ guide p.10] [11 CCR §4256(h), (i)]
• The dummy round is bright orange, red or otherwise easy to identify. If none is available, an empty case with an empty primer pocket can be used. [DOJ guide p.10] [11 CCR §4256(g)]
• You must do every step, start to finish, without error. Make a mistake and you start again from step one. [11 CCR §4256(d)]
• The instructor must also show you how to make the firearm safe if it jams. [11 CCR §4256(e)]
• The steps fit most models of each type but not every one. If yours is different, the instructor tells you its steps. [11 CCR §4256(a)]

Semiautomatic pistol

The steps as the DOJ guide gives them: [DOJ guide pp.16–18]

1. Remove the magazine.
2. Lock the slide back (or pull it back, if it won’t lock). Look at and feel the chamber to make sure it is clear and unloaded.
3. Remove the firearm safety device. If the device gets in the way of an earlier step, remove it at that step.
4. Load one dummy round into the magazine.
5. Insert the magazine into the magazine well.
6. Work the slide release, or pull back and release the slide.
7. Remove the magazine.
8. Look into the chamber to show that a round can be chambered with the magazine removed.
9. Lock the slide back to eject the dummy round (or pull it back and physically check the chamber is clear, if it won’t lock).
10. Apply the safety, if there is one.
11. Apply the firearm safety device, if there is one.

The point of step 8: a pistol with its magazine out can still have a round in the chamber. Never assume it is unloaded because the magazine is out. [DOJ guide p.18]

Double-action revolver

Open the cylinder by its latch, which lets it swing out. [DOJ guide pp.10–12]

1. Open the cylinder.
2. Look at and feel each chamber to make sure the revolver is unloaded.
3. Remove the firearm safety device (at an earlier step if it is in the way).
4. Load one dummy round into a chamber and rotate the cylinder so the round is in the next-to-fire position.
5. Close the cylinder.
6. Open the cylinder and eject the round.
7. Look at and feel each chamber again to make sure it is unloaded.
8. Apply the firearm safety device, if there is one.

Spinning the cylinder to an empty chamber does not unload a revolver: the cylinder rotates to the next chamber before the hammer falls. [DOJ guide p.12]

Single-action revolver

On a single-action revolver the steps work through the loading gate. [DOJ guide pp.13–14]

1. Open the loading gate. Look at and feel each chamber to make sure the revolver is unloaded.
2. Remove the firearm safety device (at an earlier step if it is in the way).
3. Load one dummy round, close the loading gate, and rotate the cylinder so the round is in the next-to-fire position (you may need to half-cock the revolver or reopen the gate).
4. Open the loading gate and unload the revolver.
5. Look at and feel each chamber again to make sure it is unloaded.
6. Apply the firearm safety device, if there is one.

Long guns

The guide and the regulations give steps for six kinds of long gun. The pattern is the same: show it is unloaded, load one dummy round, cycle the action, unload it, and put the safety device back on. [DOJ guide pp.19–22] [11 CCR §4257]

• Pump action (guide p.19)
• Break-top (guide p.20)
• Bolt action (guide p.20)
• Lever action (guide p.21)
• Semiautomatic with a detachable magazine (guide p.21)
• Semiautomatic with a fixed magazine (guide p.22)

Who doesn’t have to do it

• Anyone exempt from the FSC is also exempt from the demonstration; the dealer keeps a copy of the proof of exemption with the DROS instead. [DOJ FAQ] See who is exempt.
• Pawn returns and transfers between immediate family members are not subject to it. [DOJ guide p.32]
• If only the frame or receiver of a firearm is being delivered, no demonstration is required. [11 CCR §4256(b)]

Next: the rest of buying a gun in California, or 30 practice questions for the written test.