Single Shot Exemption

When I was in Palmdale, CA on a business trip in 2010, I stopped by the Santa Fe Gun Galleria and spotted a rather uncommon S&W Model 68-2 in the consignment case. Figuring I'd never get a chance to see another one, I bought it and had it shipped to my FFL in Virginia for transfer when I got home. I enjoyed it and used it in a few NRA Distinguished Revolver matches. It has, however, been quite a while since I last shot it.

A couple years ago (and a couple years after I bought it), I was contacted by Santa Fe Gun Galleria asking whether I'd be amenable to selling the gun back to the son of the gentleman who sold it. I agreed...and then never heard from Santa Fe Gun Galleria again (nor from the son).

But I took to pondering: how could such a transaction take place? The Model 68-2 is not on the California DOJ Roster of Handguns Approved For Sale, and the gun has been taken out of California, so there was no way I knew of that would allow the gun to return to California (perhaps that is a "benefit" of the DOJ roster, at least in the eyes of the decidedly anti-rights California legislature). 

Researching it a little more today, however, reveals something called the "Single Shot/Single Action Exemption", wherein if a handgun can be made into a single-shot pistol (i.e. magazine well blocked, and barrel six inches or longer), then it can be imported into the state regardless of whether the gun is on the Roster. For revolvers, the gun be single-action-only (i.e. cocking the hammer and releasing the hammer must be two separate actions); in double-action revolvers, this means the double-action sear must be removed. In the case of this particular 68-2, whose single-action notch has been filed off (making the gun double-action only), it would mean that the "neutered" hammer assembly would need to be replaced with an unmolested hammer assembly, whose double-action sear is not present. That would allow the gun to be imported back into California, and once there it could be converted back into its original condition.

Too bad I haven't heard from either Santa Fe Gun Galleria or the son of the original owner in many years to make such a transaction.

ADDENDUM: California's AB 1964 was signed into law on July 14, 2014, which ends the Single Shot Exemption in 2015, so this will no longer be possible. Bummer. Hooray for more silly gun laws.