by California Assembly Bill 1263 was signed into law on October 11th and will go into effect on January 1, 2026. Ostensibly the bill is aimed at personally manufactured firearms or what the prohibitionists call “ghost guns” (sic). Like all California gun laws it goes much further than that.
Orchid Advisors gives this summary:
California AB-1263, signed into law on October 11, 2025, significantly broadens the definition of unlawful firearm manufacturing; imposes new rules for barrels, accessories, and manufacturing machines; increases liability for digital firearm manufacturing code; and creates new 10-year prohibitions for certain misdemeanors. The law affects not only California FFLs, but also out-of-state businesses selling into California or interacting with California residents.
If one starts reading the bill, it is much worse than the summary above. As my friend and fellow NRA Board member told me years ago, let me write the definitions and I’ll always win. In this case it is obvious that the definitions were written by the prohibitionists. For example, a “firearm accessory” includes anything that could be attached to a firearm that would allow an “increase a firearm’s rate of fire or to increase the speed at which a person may reload a firearm or replace the magazine.” Taken at face value, a lighter or smoother trigger would allow you to increase the rate of fire. Likewise, a flared magwell would allow you to replace the magazine quicker.
Reading deeper into the bill and it becomes clear that the target of this bill is not gangs, cartels, or individual criminals. Rather it is aimed squarely at the firearms industry including retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers both in and outside of California.
Thus, it is not surprising that companies like Geissele are planning to end or restrict sales to California. “Mrgunsngear” published a letter from Geissele to their resellers on Facebook a couple of days ago.
I think the approach of Geissele is prudent risk management. I foresee that other companies will be doing the same thing. Frankly, it would be foolish on their part not to suspend sales of anything covered by the overly broad definitions within the bill. Indeed, if I were one of the major manufacturers of CNC machines, I’d stop selling for delivery in California. While I’m sure the authors of AB 1263 aimed it at machines like Defense Distributed’s Ghost Gunner 3-S, any CNC machine with the proper instructions – another thing that is restricted – could be a target of an ambitious prosecutor or ambulance chasing plaintiffs attorney.
This law is not about public safety. It is not about curbing so-called “gun violence” (sic). No, it has other aims – one overt and the other covert.
The first one which is overt is to create so much inherent risk for anyone in the firearms industry that they will stop selling or shipping any product that could conceivably be covered this law.
The second which is much far more insidious is that is just another attempt to kill the gun culture in California. The whole array of bills over the last number of years going back to the handgun registry and continuing on with this and the law about firearm ads “attractive to minors” seek to make it harder and harder for a gun culture to exist.
As far as I know there is no pending litigation about this law. However, given it does not become effective until January 1, there may be injunctive lawsuits just waiting to be filed. I certainly would hope so.
