4411 Mercury St, Suite 103 · Kearny Mesa, San Diego
Kearny Mesa, San Diego · before you drive out
Every ammunition purchase in California runs a DOJ check at the register. There are three, the system picks one for you, and which one you get decides whether you go home with a box or a tracking number.
Start here
It decides on one thing: whether the details typed at the counter match a record the state already holds for you.
Pick your ammunition, hand over your California ID, and we type your name, date of birth, address and ID number into the DOJ system. Match an existing Automated Firearms System entry and you get the Standard check: lower fee, answer in a minute or two. No match — or no entry at all — and the law routes you to the Basic check, a manual DOJ review that costs several times as much and can take days.
It is a comparison between two sets of characters, not a judgment about you. The commonest reason a law-abiding shooter fails one is an address they changed years ago.
Not sure which row is yours? Call us before the drive, not at the register.
Ammunition and accessories only — no firearms, no range here. Ammunition is handed over face to face at our Kearny Mesa counter because California law requires it, so there is no checkout on this site and we do not ship. Se habla español.
The three checks
Same counter, three different afternoons. These fees are set by the California DOJ by regulation and collected on the state's behalf — not our pricing, not marked up, separate from the cost of the ammunition.
SAEC — the one you want
WhoAnyone whose details already match a record in the DOJ's Automated Firearms System.
We submit your legal name, date of birth, current address, ID number and phone. DOJ confirms the set matches an existing AFS entry and clears the Prohibited Armed Persons File. A string comparison — which is why a law-abiding buyer can fail it.
Certificate of Eligibility holders
WhoPeople already holding a current COE — industry employees, licensed collectors, some instructors. Uncommon at a retail counter.
The same details plus your COE number, checked against the DOJ's list of current holders. The certificate itself is applied for and renewed directly with DOJ and carries its own fee, never paid at an ammunition counter.
The slow, expensive route
WhoAnyone with no AFS record at all, or whose details do not match the one on file.
A manual review by a DOJ analyst, and we have to collect far more to submit it: gender, height, weight, hair and eye colour, citizenship, place of birth, aliases and race. You go home with a tracking number. An approval covers one purchase and expires 30 calendar days after it is granted.
Verified against the California DOJ on . The Standard and COE fee rose from one dollar on 1 July 2025, stated on the DOJ's fee regulation page — which is silent on the Basic check; that figure is carried by 11 CCR 4283. Both rest on the fee authority in Penal Code 30370, and the state can move either again.
The part that catches people out
You are paying the state to ask the question, not to get the answer you wanted.
Submit a Standard check, have it rejected on an address you changed in 2021, and that money is spent — not refunded, not credited, not carried over. The Basic check that follows costs its own fee on top, and a Basic approval lapses 30 calendar days after it is granted.
Nobody at a counter can waive it or quietly re-run a check for free, because it was never ours to keep. Which makes the arithmetic simple, because the fix is free.
Do this before you drive out
The record being compared is your Automated Firearms System entry, and changing your address at the DMV does nothing to it. Our AFS record page covers what the state holds and the free correction that puts you back on the Standard check.
Start to finish
Six steps, most of them faster than reading about them. The only one you can influence happens before you arrive.
No advance approval exists and no store can start one by phone. The check runs against a specific sale, at the time of that sale — so choose what you are buying, then start the paperwork.
A driver's license or ID card. If it reads FEDERAL LIMITS APPLY it is not a REAL ID, so bring a passport or certified birth certificate too — every visit. The address on it matters as much as the photograph.
People expect this to be a decision. It is not. We enter your details; the DOJ system chooses. Nobody behind the counter picks the cheaper check and nobody can be talked into it.
Before the answer comes back, not after. The state sets the amount by regulation and we collect it on the state's behalf without marking it up, separate from the cost of the ammunition.
A Standard or COE check normally returns in a minute or two and the sale carries on. A Basic check goes to an analyst: you take a tracking number home and come back once it clears.
Approved, the ammunition is handed to you in person — Penal Code 30312, state law rather than store policy, and the reason there is no cart on this site. Nothing carries over: next visit starts at the check again.
Two rules sit alongside the check rather than inside it, both on our California ammo law page: 18 for rifle and shotgun ammunition, 21 for handgun, and passing a check does not override that. At 18 to 20 with a dual-use caliber, call first.
Stock & deal questions
Call or text before you drive out. Tell us the situation — moved recently, never bought a firearm, visiting from out of state — and we will tell you what to expect.
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If it comes back no
Almost never what people assume in the moment. Here is how to read it and what to do next.
Most denials at this counter are records problems, not prohibitions — an old address, a name that changed, a record that was never created. You are handed a tracking number: use it at the DOJ's CFARS site to read the stated reason. Guessing at the cause is how people spend a second state fee on a second failed attempt.
We cannot override a state result, re-run a check without the state fee, or work around a denial, and splitting a purchase does nothing. Asking somebody else to buy ammunition for you is a crime that hurts you both. What we will do is tell you which check was attempted, what came back, hand you the tracking number and point you at the right application — and nobody here is going to make you feel small about it.
Common questions
Real questions from real customers in Kearny Mesa, answered the way we answer them in person.
California sets the fees by regulation and they are collected at the counter on the state's behalf, not as a store charge: $5 for a Standard check or a Certificate of Eligibility verification, and $19 for the Basic check. The Standard and COE figure rose from one dollar on 1 July 2025, so a page still quoting a dollar predates that change.
Yes. It is charged per attempt, not per successful purchase — you pay the state to ask the question, not to get the answer you wanted. A Standard check rejected on a stale address is money spent, and the Basic check that follows costs its own fee on top.
The Standard check if your name, date of birth, address and ID number match an existing Automated Firearms System entry. The Basic check if any of them do not, or if you have no entry at all — common for first-time buyers and out-of-state visitors. COE verification if you hold a current Certificate of Eligibility.
It runs at the counter, against a specific sale, at the time of sale — there is no pre-approval and no store can start one by phone. Every purchase carries its own check and its own fee, and nothing carries over from the last one. The only useful preparation is making sure your DOJ record is current, which is free.
No. The check and its state fee apply to ammunition. Targets, muffs and plugs, shooting glasses, cleaning kits, ammo cans and range bags carry neither. We sell those over the counter rather than online because that is how this store works — our own policy, not state law. The face-to-face rule in Penal Code 30312 is about ammunition.
You are handed a tracking number: use it at the DOJ's CFARS site to read the stated reason. Most denials we see are records problems, not prohibitions. We cannot change a state record, reverse a DOJ result or re-run a check without the state fee, and asking somebody else to buy on your behalf is a crime that hurts you both.
Yes. A Ninth Circuit panel ruled against the law in July 2025, but that ruling never took effect and was vacated when the court granted rehearing before an eleven-judge en banc panel in December 2025. That panel heard argument on 25 March 2026 and has not yet ruled. Every purchase today runs a check and carries the state fee.
Last reviewed:
General information, not legal advice. This page describes California's ammunition eligibility check as we understand it, to help you show up prepared. The check is in force today; the litigation over it in Rhode v. Bonta is still pending before an eleven-judge Ninth Circuit panel that heard argument on 25 March 2026. A decision could issue at any time, and even a ruling against the state would very likely be stayed while further review is sought.
State fees are set by regulation and have moved before, and cities and counties can add requirements of their own. If anything here has changed since the review date, the official sources win. Verify anything that matters with the California DOJ — Ammunition Purchase Authorization Program, and take a denial you believe is a records error to a California firearms attorney.
Kearny Mesa, San Diego
Bring your ID and bring your questions. Nobody here is going to make you feel stupid for asking how the check works.
Closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
Calls only
310-499-3499Text only
Text anytime. Anytime — immediate during business hours, forwarded after hours.
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How California's ammo law works