A California state court issued an important ruling in the NRA and CRPA supported case of Gentry v. Becerra, holding DOJ accountable for its historical mismanagement and misuse of DROS (dealer record of sale) account funds.

The DROS fee is part of the overall fee charged during a firearm transfer. The fees are intended to be used to cover limited and specific expenses, such as conducting background checks on gun buyers. In an effort to avoid spending money from other sources on general law enforcement activities, DOJ has for years been improperly overcharging gun buyers and raiding the DROS funds to cover expenses that DROS funds were never intended to pay for. In addition DOJ has never performed the statutorily required review to determine whether the current DROS fee is “no more than necessary to fund” the certain specifically authorized costs it was intended to cover.

In its ruling the Court has ordered the DOJ to conduct a review of the current fee and has prohibited DOJ from using DROS fee funds for unrelated law enforcement efforts, with very minimal exceptions. The ruling in the Gentry case serves as yet another example of DOJ’s constant overreach, mismanagement, and blatant disregard for its obligations, and for the rights of law-abiding gun owners.

Please continue to check your inbox and the California Stand and Fight webpage for updates on issues impacting your Second Amendment rights and hunting heritage in California.