How buying a gun in Susanville works
Pick an FFL dealer near you that accepts shipped transfers and name it at checkout. We confirm their license and ship the firearm to them. Ammunition, optics and parts ship straight to your door where California law allows.
California stacks several steps on top of the federal check. Most buyers need a valid Firearm Safety Certificate: a 30-question test, 23 correct to pass, $25, good for five years, with a hunting licence exempting long-gun buyers only. Every sale runs through a dealer as a Dealer Record of Sale, with a state fee of $37.19 and a wait of ten 24-hour periods before delivery. New handguns must appear on the Department of Justice Roster of Certified Handguns. Since April 1, 2026 a dealer may not deliver a fourth firearm inside any 30-day window, with exceptions for peace officers, licensed collectors, court-ordered relinquishments and replacing a reported stolen gun.
Dealers in these communities all work for Susanville-area buyers:
- Janesville
- Standish
- Litchfield
- Westwood
- Herlong
- Doyle
- Milford
- Bieber
Carrying a gun in Lassen County
A concealed carry licence comes from the Lassen County Sheriff or from the police chief of the city where you live. Since SB 2 took effect in January 2024 there is no good-cause test. Instead the issuing office decides whether you are a disqualified person under Penal Code 26202, interviews you in person, and speaks to at least three character references. New applicants complete at least 16 hours of training with live fire and an hour on mental health; renewals take at least eight hours. Licences run up to two years. SB 2 also bars carry in a long list of sensitive places, parts of which courts have blocked.
Hunting near Susanville
Deer is the main big-game season. CDFW splits the state into Zone A across the coast and western valleys, the B and C zones through the north, the D zones down the Sierra and the southern ranges, and draw-only X zones in the northeast and eastern Sierra. Zone A opens earliest in the summer and most B, C and D zones run in autumn. Premium and X-zone tags come out of the Big Game Drawing, while general tags sell over the counter until quotas fill. Non-lead ammunition is required to take any wildlife with a firearm anywhere in California. Check the current CDFW mammal hunting regulations for 2026-27 dates.
Susanville is named in the boundary description for draw-only deer Zone X-6a, with Zone C-4 to the west. Mule deer, pronghorn, sage grouse and chukar are all hunted in Lassen County.
The Lassen and Plumas national forests, Eagle Lake, the Honey Lake Wildlife Area and the BLM sagebrush east of town are all close at hand.