AB 1810 California Assembly · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Firearms: dealer centralized list.

Summary

Existing law requires the Department of Justice to keep a centralized list of all persons who are licensed firearms dealers and satisfy certain requirements, including having a valid federal firearms license and a regulatory or business license required by local government. Existing law requires the department to remove a person from the list if the person's federal license has expired or been revoked. Existing law, beginning on January 1, 2024, requires the department to conduct inspections of firearms dealers at least every 3 years, except as provided, to ensure compliance with specified requirements. As part of the department's inspections of firearms dealers, existing law requires the department to audit a dealer's records that includes a sampling of at least 25% but no more than 50% of each record type. Existing law requires the department to assess annual fees not to exceed specified amounts to cover the reasonable costs of inspecting and maintaining this list and other similar centralized lists. This bill would require the department to remove from the list a person who fails to comply with the requirements to be on the list and authorize the department to remove a person from the list who fails to remedy specified violations discovered as a result of the above-described inspections. The bill would subject a person removed from the list for failure to remedy specified violations to a fine and would authorize that person to be ineligible to be placed on the list for a period of 2 years. The bill would require the department to conduct a yearly inspection of the 10 firearm dealer locations with the highest percentage of firearms that were recovered by law enforcement and found to be illegally possessed, used in a crime, or suspected to have been used in a crime, as specified, pursuant to a certain yearly report. The bill would, for the fees charged for inspecting and maintaining the above-described lists, instead require the department to assess a reasonable annual fee. The bill would prohibit a fee adjustment from exceeding 15% over the previous year and exceeding the amount necessary to cover the costs described above.

Issues: ✓ Criminal Justice

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Aug 2026

Assembly Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 10, 2026 Last action Aug 13, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

03/16/26 - Amended Assembly → 05/18/26 - Amended Assembly · 8 edits · May 18, 2026

MODERATE

The May 18 amendment to AB 1810 narrows the criteria for mandatory annual inspections of firearm dealers by adding a 'time to crime' threshold (less than one year), removes fixed dollar caps on fees across multiple sections, eliminates the CPI-based fee increase provision for exempted federal licensees, and adds a new definition of 'time to crime.' A coauthor (Assembly Member Stefani) was also added.

REQUIREMENT

Section 26720(a)(2) now requires that the 10 highest-risk dealer locations selected for annual inspection must have firearms with a 'time to crime' of less than one year for the most recent calendar year reported. This narrows which dealers get inspected by focusing on those whose firearms are more quickly ending up in crimes.

Section 26720(a)(4) removes the upper limit on record sampling during inspections. Previously, audits sampled 'at least 25 percent but no more than 50 percent' of each record type; now there is only a minimum of 25 percent with no stated maximum.

DEFINITION

A new paragraph (6) in Section 26720(a) defines 'time to crime' as the length of time between when a firearm was last in the possession of, or reported stolen by, the dealer and the date it was recovered by law enforcement and found to be illegally possessed, used in a crime, or suspected to have been used in a crime.

FISCAL

Section 26720(b) removes the $115 cap on the annual fee for maintaining the centralized list and conducting inspections. The department may now assess an annual fee with no fixed dollar maximum, subject only to the 15 percent annual adjustment limit and cost-recovery requirement.

Section 28460(a) removes both the January 1, 2008 commencement date and the $115 fee cap for exempted federal firearms licensees. The department now assesses a 'reasonable annual fee' with no fixed dollar maximum.

Section 28460(b) is deleted entirely. This provision had allowed the department to increase fees at a rate not exceeding the California Consumer Price Index. Its removal means fee increases for exempted federal licensees are governed solely by the 15 percent cap in subdivision (a).

Section 29055(c) removes the $250 per year cap on fees for licensed manufacturers who produce fewer than 500 firearms in a calendar year. The fee is now limited only to actual costs of inspections and maintaining the centralized list.

SCOPE

The bill title and digest were simplified from 'Firearms: centralized list. Firearms: dealer centralized list.' to 'Firearms: dealer centralized list,' reflecting a narrower framing of the bill's purpose.

02/10/26 - Introduced → 03/16/26 - Amended Assembly · 8 edits · Mar 16, 2026

MODERATE

AB 1810 was dramatically expanded from a technical, nonsubstantive cleanup of Section 26715 into a substantive bill amending four Penal Code sections (26715, 26720, 28460, and 29055). The amendment adds new grounds for removing dealers from the state's centralized firearms dealer list, imposes fines and two-year ineligibility periods on removed dealers, requires annual inspections of the 10 highest-risk firearm dealer locations based on crime gun recovery data, and restructures fee provisions across multiple dealer categories.

Scope change

Expanded from a single technical amendment to Section 26715 (centralized list of licensed dealers) to substantive amendments across four sections covering dealer removal and penalties, targeted inspections of high-risk locations, fee restructuring for dealers and exempted federal licensees, and new cost-recovery provisions for firearm manufacturers.

ENFORCEMENT

New removal grounds: The Department of Justice must remove a person from the centralized list if they fail to comply with licensure requirements in Section 26700(a)-(e), and may remove a person who fails to remedy inspection violations within 90 days.

Penalties for removal: A person removed under the new grounds is subject to a fine, ineligible to be placed on the centralized list for two years, and ineligible to own or operate a firearms/ammunition business or be employed by one for two years.

Targeted annual inspections: The department must inspect the 10 firearm dealer locations with the highest percentage of total sales of firearms recovered as illegally possessed or used in crime (minimum threshold of 20 firearms), within 12 months of the relevant report release.

REQUIREMENT

Dealers must provide certificates of eligibility for all employees who require them upon request by a peace officer, law enforcement employee, or DOJ employee during an inspection.

Remediation requirement: A dealer found to have committed a violation during inspection must remedy it within 90 days and submit proof to the department.

FISCAL

Fee structure changed from a fixed cap of $115 to a 'reasonable annual fee' with a cap that adjustments cannot exceed 15 percent over the previous year and cannot exceed the amount necessary to cover costs. This applies to both Section 26720 (dealers) and Section 28460 (exempted federal firearms licensees).

The CPI-based fee increase provision in Section 28460 (allowing increases at a rate not exceeding the California Consumer Price Index) was removed and replaced with the 15 percent cap.

New Section 29055 provisions require the department to recover full costs of administering the firearm manufacturer program through reasonable fees, and cap the fee at $250 per year (or actual costs, whichever is less) for manufacturers producing fewer than 500 firearms in a calendar year.

Floor votes · Assembly May 27, 2026

How they voted

57–20

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 79

May 27, 2026

D Democratic59

57 Yea 2

96% Yea

R Republican20

20 Nay

100% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Aug 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

In committee: Held under submission.

upper

Aug 3, 2026

Committee

In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.

upper

Jun 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Jun 24, 2026

Introduced

From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 2.) (June 23).

upper

Jun 16, 2026

Upper · Passed

In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.

upper

Jun 3, 2026

Committee

Referred to Com. on PUB. S.

upper

May 27, 2026

Assembly · Passed

Assembly Vote: pass (57-20-2)

assembly

May 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 58. Noes 20.)

lower

May 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.

lower

May 14, 2026

Introduced

From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 4.) (May 14).

lower

May 13, 2026

Committee

In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.

lower

Apr 15, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 2.) (April 14). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

Mar 17, 2026

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Introduced

From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. Read second time and amended.

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Committee

Referred to Com. on PUB. S.

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

From printer. May be heard in committee March 13.

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor