UNDETERMINED STATUS AND FIREARM DENIALS
Have you been delayed or denied the purchase of a firearm? There are a number of reasons for denials, even if you are not prohibited. They include:
- Mismatched names. If your RAP sheet contains arrests, convictions, or other information unrelated to your past, your name may have been confused with another person’s name.
- Incomplete Information and dispositions. Even if a case against you has been resolved, your RAP sheet may not reflect the complete updated information. For example, you may have been cited for a violation but never charged or charged for a different violation, and the first charge is never updated to show a disposition, thereby leaving the result of the first charge unknown on the record.
- Revealing sealed information. Your RAP may contain records that should have been destroyed or can only be released by special court order, such as sealed arrests or juvenile offenses.
- Providing misleading information. It is possible that a single charge may appear multiple times on your RAP, making it look like you are a multiple offender.
- Misclassifying your offenses. If a misdemeanor conviction shows up as a felony on your RAP sheet, this is a serious problem!
We receive many inquiries regarding this topic and have prepared the following steps for you to complete to ensure that we can adequately review the records that the California Department of Justice is examining to determine your eligibility.
- ▢ STEP 1: Obtain a copy of your Dealer Record of Sale (DROS) from the California firearms dealer to whom you applied to purchase a firearm. Save that document for Step 8.
- ▢ STEP 2: The California Bureau of Firearms should send you a letter informing you of your Undetermined Status and/or Denial Letter[s]. Save those documents for Step 8.
- ▢ STEP 3: Complete the attached BOF Form 8016RR. Do not use any other form to obtain your California Criminal History, as they will not contain all the information necessary for us to examine the record.
- ▢ STEP 4: Take the BOF Form 8016RR to a Livescan Facility to have your fingerprints taken and submitted to the DOJ by the facility. Keep a copy of this record and your receipt on file, we may need it later.
- ▢ STEP 5: Wait! It may take weeks or months to obtain this record, as the DOJ is not expedient in responding to these.
- ▢ STEP 6: Upon receiving your California Criminal History Information Response from the DOJ, scan your California Criminal History Information response, any letter[s] from the Bureau of Firearms notifying you of your Undetermined Status and/or Denial Letter[s], and your DROS in as a single-document PDF using a scanner, phone App, or by having them scanned in as a single-document PDF at a local postal service center or office supply location. Keep the original with your file.
- ▢ STEP 7: Review the California Criminal History Information response from the DOJ and make a list of any inaccuracies or incomplete information to the best of your recollection.
- ▢ STEP 8: E-mail a copy of the scanned record, your list of any known inaccuracies or incorrect information, your Undetermined Status/Denial Letter from the Bureau of Firearms, and a copy of your DROS to [email protected].
Once we receive the e-mail from you containing the California Criminal History Information response from the DOJ, your list of known inaccuracies or incorrect information, your letter from the Bureau of Firearms notifying you of your Undetermined Status and/or Denial, and your DROS, we can review the record to identify and determine what we believe the cause of the undetermined status to be and provide a road map to correction.