California Wants a Background Check to Buy a Barrel. SAF Just Filed the Comment.
On September 18 the Second Amendment Foundation submitted comments to California DOJ on proposed rules for Senate Bill 704 — the first barrel-purchase background check in the country. SAF’s Kostas Moros signed the letter. The Foundation’s own numbers from Rhode v. Bonta: January through June 2023, 58,087 people failed an AFS ammunition check for a records mismatch. 141 were actual prohibited-person denials.
- SAF comments filed Sept. 18, 2026, to California DOJ on SB 704 barrel-transfer background-check rules.
- SAF: first barrel-purchase background check in the nation; no historical analogue; unconstitutional. Rulemaking comments still filed.
- Proposal: Standard Firearm Barrel Eligibility Check against AFS, then optional Basic Check. SAF says the draft does not clearly route customers to the Basic Check.
- Rhode v. Bonta AFS ammo data cited: Jan–June 2023, 58,087 mismatch rejects vs. 141 prohibited denials.
- Signers quoted: Kostas Moros (letter), Adam Kraut (release). Comments, not an injunction.
The Second Amendment Foundation dated the release September 18, 2026, from Bellevue. “The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) today submitted formal comments to the California Department of Justice (CADOJ) on proposed regulations implementing Senate Bill 704’s new background check requirement for firearm barrel transfers.” SAF’s line on the statute: “SB 704 is the first barrel-purchase background check law in the nation and has no historical analogue, therefore it is unconstitutional.” The comment letter still has to live in the rulemaking. Under the proposal, a “Standard Firearm Barrel Eligibility Check” looks for a matching Automated Firearms System record, the same way ammunition checks do. No match, and the buyer “may” use a Basic Check. SAF says the draft does not clearly tell dealers or customers to take that next step.
Kostas Moros, SAF Director of Legal Research and Education, signed the letter: “California already prices and papers the right to keep and bear arms nearly out of reach. Now it wants a background check just to buy a barrel.” SAF’s ask if the Department proceeds anyway: auto-roll a Standard Check rejection for no AFS match into a Basic Check, or at least require dealers to say those rejections are common and usually do not mean the buyer is prohibited. The ammunition data SAF cites from California DOJ’s own Rhode v. Bonta filings: January through June 2023, 58,087 AFS ammunition rejections for records mismatches, 141 denials as prohibited persons — “about 412 law-abiding buyers blocked for every prohibited person stopped.” Roughly one in ten checks failed. More than a third of the January 2023 false rejects still had not completed an ammunition purchase five months later. Executive Director Adam Kraut: “They cannot undo an unconstitutional statute by regulation, but they can certainly stop making a bad law even worse.” Comments are not a lawsuit. SB 704 is still the statute. The AFS is still the database California already knows misfires.
"California’s ammo database already blocked 412 mismatches for every prohibited person. Now it wants that machine on a barrel."← More Stories
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