Relinquish any firearm and ammunition in your possession or control within 24 hours of being served, or immediately if the officer serving a domestic violence restraining order asks for them, then file the receipt with the court within 48 hours. Under a domestic violence restraining order, a copy of the receipt must also go to the law enforcement agency that served you, and missing either filing deadline is itself a violation of the order. A second, separate process can apply later if you are convicted of an offense that carries its own firearm ban.
Which statute governs your order
Family Code section 6389 governs protective orders under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, whether issued before a hearing, after a hearing, or as part of a short-term emergency protective order (Family Code sections 6218 and 6252). Code of Civil Procedure section 527.9 governs civil harassment, workplace violence, postsecondary school violence, and elder or dependent adult abuse orders. It also governs criminal protective orders, because Penal Code section 136.2(d) directs relinquishment “pursuant to Section 527.9.” The current versions of sections 6389 and 527.9 became operative on January 1, 2026. The prohibition lasts as long as the order does, whether that is an emergency order or a multi-year permanent restraining order; the relinquishment and receipt deadlines start when you are served.
The 24-hour and 48-hour deadlines
Both statutes reach any firearm and ammunition in your immediate possession or control. Under section 6389, if a law enforcement officer serving the order asks for them, you must surrender them immediately; otherwise, within 24 hours of being served, you surrender them to local law enforcement, or sell, transfer, or relinquish them for storage to a licensed gun dealer (6389(c)(2)). Under section 527.9, you have 24 hours after service to surrender them to local law enforcement or sell them to a licensed gun dealer (527.9(b)).
Then the receipt has to be filed:
- Section 527.9 orders: file the receipt with the court within 48 hours after receiving the order.
- Section 6389 orders: within 48 hours after being served, file the receipt with the court that issued the order, and file a copy with the law enforcement agency that served it. Failing to timely file either one “shall constitute a violation of the protective order” (6389(c)(2)(A), (B)).
At a later hearing, the court must check the file for the receipt and ask whether you complied. Violations of the firearm prohibition are reported to the prosecutor within two business days of that hearing unless you provide a receipt showing compliance at a later hearing or by filing it directly with the clerk (527.9(b); 6389(c)(4)). Under section 527.9, if you do not file a receipt within 48 hours for a firearm in your possession, the court must have the clerk notify law enforcement.
If turning in a firearm could incriminate you
If you decline to relinquish a firearm or ammunition by asserting your right against self-incrimination, the court may grant use immunity for the act of relinquishing it (527.9(i); 6389(d)). The immunity covers the act of turning the firearm in; it is not a general immunity from prosecution for anything else. Raise this through a lawyer before the deadline runs.
A second, separate process if there is also a conviction
Everything above happens because of the order itself, whether or not you are ever convicted of anything. Penal Code section 29810 creates an independent duty that starts only on conviction of an offense that carries its own firearm ban, including misdemeanors listed in Penal Code section 29805 such as battery, corporal injury to a partner, and violating a protective order. You must then relinquish all firearms within 48 hours of the conviction if you remain out of custody, or within 14 days if you are in custody. Relinquishment runs through a designee, either a local law enforcement agency or a consenting person who is not prohibited from having firearms, using the Department of Justice’s Prohibited Persons Relinquishment Form that the court provides.
The completed form goes to an assigned probation officer, who reports to the court before sentencing whether you complied. If you have no firearms, you still submit the form with a statement saying so, and failing to submit it on time is an infraction (29810(c), (d), (e)). You cannot be prosecuted for unlawful possession of firearms you declare on the form if they are relinquished as required (29810(g)).
These are two separate documentation trails. Completing the order-based receipt does not satisfy the conviction-based process; if both apply, you document compliance through both.
The criminal exposure for not complying
Penal Code section 29825 makes it a separate crime to act while knowing an order prohibits you. Purchasing or receiving a firearm, or attempting to, is punishable by up to one year in county jail or by state prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both (29825(a)). Owning or possessing a firearm is punishable by up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both (29825(b)). That exposure is in addition to any charge for violating the order’s other terms.
Documenting compliance in practice
- Keep your own dated copy of every receipt, and note exactly which agency or dealer took each firearm and when.
- If your order is a domestic violence restraining order, confirm the receipt reached both the court and the law enforcement agency that served you, not just one of them.
- If you own a firearm that is not in your immediate possession, tell the court. Under section 6389(m), the court may limit the order to exclude it if satisfied you cannot get to it while the order is in effect.
- If you have no firearm or ammunition, be ready to say so when the court asks whether you complied.
- A work-related exemption for a specific firearm exists only if the court grants it in the order after making findings (6389(h); 527.9(f)). Do not assume one applies.
- Do not keep a firearm “for someone else” or transfer it informally to a friend or family member to avoid relinquishing it. Use only the surrender, sale, or licensed-dealer options in the statute.
Missing a deadline in this process can turn into its own violation on top of whatever case brought you the order. The Law Offices of David S. Chesley can review your paperwork and confirm that compliance was documented correctly. Call (800) 755-5174.