Altering a Firearm’s Identifying Information, PC 23900

It is common for police to find a firearm with the make, model or serial number scratched “away” so that police cannot read it, strongly suggesting the firearm is stolen. 

A person will do this to prevent law enforcement from tracking the firearm back to its original owner, who may be a victim of a crime, or being able to figure out it was stolen by the person owning it.  The gun may be evidence that the person committed another crime, so scratching off certain information on the weapon can help the perpetrator hide that connection to the other crime and sell the gun to someone without a concern that the buyer will be linked to some crime.

When asked how he or she got the firearm, the “I got it at a swap meet” or “I bought it from a guy whose name I don’t know” or “I found it” is often given, when the gun actually may have been acquired during a burglary of a home, business or automobile.

This type of defense is not too smart if the person has a prior criminal history involving firearm offenses because that person most likely would know that such identifying information on a firearm is used to investigate crimes, so keeping a firearm that “I just found laying in the dirt” would be incredibly stupid because that person would be knowingly linking himself or herself to a crime and a stolen weapon.  It just would not make sense if that person had almost any criminal history.

The text of Penal Code § 23900 reads: “Any person who changes, alters, removes, or obliterates the name of the maker, model, manufacturer’s number, or other mark of identification, including any distinguishing number or mark assigned by the Department of Justice, on any pistol, revolver, or other firearm without first having secured written from the department to make that change, alteration, or removal shall be punished by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.”

This is a separate crime from the underlying other crime or crimes of possession of stolen property (Penal Code § 496) and quite often, being a felon in possession of a firearm (Penal Code § 29800).

The purpose of the law is to preserve the identification of firearms, to promote crime investigations and, more generally, public safety by our government being able to know who the registered owners are of firearms.

Penal Code § 23900 is a straight felony (not a wobbler) with punishment of sixteen months, two years or three years in state prison. as well as a fine of up to $10,000.  One would serve such a sentence under Assembly Bill 109 in county jail unless one is a registered sex offender. 

The alteration, removal or obliteration of the make, model or manufacturer’s number need not be intentional, so one could be convicted if the identifying mark was only partially altered, for example, when someone was hunting and accidentally dropped or bumped the firearm into a rock or another metal object.  This defense may be valid, however, if other areas of the firearm are also nicked, scraped or damaged in the same way, but not so as to alter or obscure the manufacturer serial number, make or model.

A gun collector may also do this to make the gun seem more unique or older.  This could help with the resale value of the gun.

However, if one actually has express written permission from the Department of Justice to remove such information, there is no crime.  Presumably, one who lawfully purchased the firearm through a licensed gun dealer would have no worries in seeking such permission, but this would not be so if one acquired the gun illegally (otherwise, one would be identifying himself or herself as having a “hot’ gun).  One may request this is one is trying to fix the firearm or restore it to its original, operational condition, i.e., because it was corroded, or had some broken parts.