(a) An individual may request that the Department of Justice perform a firearms eligibility check for that individual. The applicant requesting the eligibility check shall provide the personal information required by Section 28160 or 28165, as applicable, but not any information regarding any firearm, to the department, in an application specified by the department.

(b) The department shall charge a fee of twenty dollars ($20) for performing the eligibility check authorized by this section, but not to exceed the actual processing costs of the department. After the department establishes fees sufficient to reimburse the department for processing costs, fees charged may increase at a rate not to exceed the legislatively approved cost-of-living adjustment for the department’s budget or as otherwise increased through the Budget Act.

(c) An applicant for the eligibility check pursuant to subdivision (a) shall complete the application, have it notarized by any licensed California Notary Public, and submit it by mail to the department.

(d) Upon receipt of a notarized application and fee, the department shall do all of the following:

(1) Examine its records, and the records it is authorized to request from the State Department of State Hospitals pursuant to Section 8104 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to determine if the purchaser is prohibited by state or federal law from possessing, receiving, owning, or purchasing a firearm.

(2) Notify the applicant by mail of its determination of whether the applicant is prohibited by state or federal law from possessing, receiving, owning, or purchasing a firearm. The department’s notification shall state either “eligible to possess firearms as of the date the check was completed” or “ineligible to possess firearms as of the date the check was completed.”

(e) If the department determines that the information submitted to it in the application contains any blank spaces, or inaccurate, illegible, or incomplete information, preventing identification of the applicant, or if the required fee is not submitted, the department shall not be required to perform the firearms eligibility check.

(f) The department shall make applications to conduct a firearms eligibility check as described in this section available to licensed firearms dealers and on the department’s Internet Web site.

(g) The department shall be immune from any liability arising out of the performance of the firearms eligibility check, or any reliance upon the firearms eligibility check.

(h) Except as provided in Sections 29180 and 29182, a person or agency shall not require or request an individual to obtain a firearms eligibility check or notification of a firearms eligibility check pursuant to this section. A violation of this subdivision is a misdemeanor.

(i) The department shall include on the application specified in subdivision (a) and the notification of eligibility specified in subdivision (d) the following statements:

“No person or agency may require or request an individual to obtain a firearms eligibility check or notification of firearms eligibility check pursuant to Section 30105 of the Penal Code. A violation of these provisions is a misdemeanor.”

“If the applicant for a firearms eligibility check purchases, transfers, or receives a firearm through a licensed dealer as required by law, a waiting period and background check are both required.”

(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 60, Sec. 5. (AB 857) Effective January 1, 2017.)