How many Californians tried to register their firearms as "bullet-button assault weapons" before the July 1 deadline? How long will it take DOJ to process those registrations? How much did it cost Californians? See some of our research and findings below for the answers.

FAST FACTS

• DOJ had approved 6,213 individuals to register 12,519 firearms as of June 30, 2018
• DOJ processed 2,723 applications for firearm registration between Aug. 3, 2017, and Jan. 4, 2018
• DOJ processed 12,168 applications for firearm registration between Jan. 5, 2018, and June 30, 2018
• DOJ still had 52,443 applications for firearm registration pending as of June 30
• Based on the rate of their application processing between January and May 2018, it would take DOJ 2.15 more years to finish processing the remaining “assault weapon” applications
• The “assault weapon” registration system was originally estimated to cost DOJ $55,770 – 429 man-hours at $130.00 per hour – but over $113,370 was spent on programming alone to add DOJ’s BBAW system into its CFARS system
• $119,970 in fees had been collected from gun owners through May 30, 2018
• DOJ received funding to hire 24 analysts and two managers to process “bullet-button assault weapon” registration applications – “limited term positions that will cease to exist one year after these employees’ start dates.”

REFERENCES

January 17, 2018, declaration of DOJ Bureau of Firearms Special Agent Supervisor Blake Graham

California DOJ Feb. 1, 2018, response letter to Brandon Combs, with records

California DOJ July 9, 2018, response letter to Brandon Combs, with records

California DOJ July 11, 2018, response letter to Brandon Combs, with records

California DOJ Open Justice Firearms Data