Re: How bad can it get? ---- 
sit down for this one.
First — I feel for him, and I hate being the one writing this to a fellow 2A guy. Don't hate the messenger. Here's the straight version with the good news included, because there's real good news.
The charge: Almost certainly a misdemeanor, not a felony. The main felony trigger (§ 25400(c)(6)) requires that he
not be the gun's registered owner — but he is (he had to be to file the BOF 4502 amendment). That knocks out felony exposure, which means no lifetime state ban (§ 29800) and no lifetime federal ban (§ 922(g)(1)). Realistic ceiling is misdemeanor § 25400(c)(7): up to a year county, $1,000.
The permit: Gone, functionally 100%. Revocation under § 26195(b)(1) is mandatory once he breaches an IA condition (carrying an unlisted gun is the breach), and disclosing to the IA doesn't save it. Best he can do is push for a
voluntary surrender instead of "revoked for cause" — same result, but cleaner paperwork for reapplying later.
Duty to inform — correcting the thread: SB 2 did
not create a statewide duty to tell an officer you're carrying. That only applies if his IA wrote it into his license conditions. What SB 2
did add is a duty to notify the
IA of any arrest or charge after the fact — so he should assume the IA already knows or soon will, and self-report (through his lawyer).
Can he lose the right to own guns? Yes — a misdemeanor § 25400
conviction triggers a 10-year prohibition under § 29805. This is the real threat, bigger than the permit. But it only attaches if there's a conviction.
The good news — diversion: § 25400 is eligible for PC § 1001.95 judicial diversion. If he completes it, the case is dismissed, there's no conviction, and
§ 29805 never triggers — his ownership rights stay intact. During the program he may have a temporary no-possession condition, and the permit's still gone, but he keeps his guns and can reapply for a permit later with a "diverted and dismissed" story instead of a conviction. That's a night-and-day better hand.
His mitigation is strong: clean record, lawful owner, amendment paperwork already filed (shows good faith), cited and released instead of booked. Those are exactly the facts that get a judge to grant diversion.
Bottom line: Best realistic case — loses the permit, keeps his guns, no conviction, reapply down the road. Worst on this track — misdemeanor, 10-year ownership prohibition, but no lifetime ban. The gap between those is entirely about getting a California firearms attorney
now and aiming straight at diversion. Tell him to lawyer up this week and not say a word to the IA, DA, or investigators until he does.
He got the survivable version of a bad day. There's a real, achievable path to landing on his feet with his gun rights intact. Call a gun rights lawyer right away.
