Hypothetical CA magazine question

[hq]

I just returned from a business trip to CA and OR, and having shopped some small, non-restricted items, one legal question has kept bothering me.

Let's assume I purchased a high (20-30rd, ie. regular) capacity magazine from OR. Disassembled it and divided all the parts between several persons, so that no-one would possess more than one or two parts required to assemble a "high capacity" magazine at any time. I'm well aware of legalities concerning complete magazines and even kits which include all parts to assemble a 10rd+ magazine, but as far as I've been able to gather information, possessing individual parts would not break CA laws.

I'm not looking for a definitive answer if one even exists, but some insight in whether my reasoning is anywhere near correct. Nothing of this sorts happened, of course, so this is purely a hypothetical question which may or may not affect my purchase decisions in the future.

Exporting parts in the same manner seems straightforward enough and won't break the 10rd+ magazine export regulations as long as all other requirements are met, but CA state legislation is such an oddball that I really want to be safe rather than sorry. Alternatively I'll just book my future flights to Portland instead of SF.

 

[Old Shooter]

I don't know about the California laws regarding your situation but I would probably just take the mags to the local UPS location and ship them back to my home or wherever. I don't think I would want to enlist a couple of friends or acquaintances to help me "smuggle" a $20 magazine thru the peoples republic of California.

 

[Art Eatman]

What good is all this if after assembly there is exposure to criminal charges? And it's possible that any discovery of a collection of parts would be seen as substantive possession of an illegal magazine.

Many of us know of workarounds to evade what we see as foolish laws. But it's a risk/reward thing and the risks are generally not worth it. And at THR we certainly do not advocate such evasion and regard even hypotheticals as off-topic for the website.