Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney famously echoed the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United when he said, “Corporations are people, my friend.” And since corporations are people, the California Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has reasoned, they ought to be able to have permits for selling assault weapons, just like their corporeal embodiments.

California has effectively banned possession of new assault weapons in the state with a succession of laws, but manufacturers and retailers still do business here. While the state continues efforts to plug holes in its assault weapons ban, the federal government has let lapse its prohibition against the weapons for the rest of the country.

The state Department of Justice (DOJ) had been interpreting California’s laws governing sales of assault weapons to apply solely to individuals and had denied permits to a corporation seeking to traffic in .50 BMG (Browning Machine Gun) rifles. The department interpreted Penal Code section 16970—which said “any entity” within the definition of “persons” may obtain such permits—to exclude corporations. Individuals within a corporation could get a permit to sell the weapons, but the permit was not transferable within the corporation, according to the DOJ’s interpretation of the law.

That interpretation was challenged in April by Franklin Armory—“We specialize in producing legal firearms for restrictive jurisdictions such as California” —and the OAL, whose job it is to review regulatory interpretations by other government agencies, said the DOJ had erred.

Although the administrative law office said it lacks the technical expertise and authority to judge the regulation’s legality, it determined that the Department of Justice had promulgated what it calls “an underground regulation”—a rule that has not been properly vetted through the state’s Administrative Procedure Act process. The OAL dismissed as irrelevant to the discussion arguments by Franklin Armory that the regulation harms businesses.

The OAL decision was hailed by the California Association of Federal Firearm Licensees (Cal*FFL), whose motto is: “We Bring Guns Home.”

“This action should eliminate the burden, both financial and procedural, that law-abiding businesses face in this segment of the fast-growing firearms market,” Cal*FFL spokesman Brandon Combs said.

–Ken Broder

To Learn More:

Cal Bureau of Firearms Slapped Down For Unlawful "Underground Regulation" (Only Guns and Money)

Permits for Assault Weapons (Office of Administrative Law) (pdf)

DOJ "Assault Weapon" Policy Ruled an Underground Regulation (California Association of Federal Firearm Licensees)

California Office of Administrative Law Accepts Petition Challenging DOJ “Assault Weapons” Provision (California Association of Federal Firearm Licensees)