1917 Cal. Sess. Laws 221-225, An act relating to and regulating the carrying, possession, sale or other disposition of firearms capable of being concealed upon the person; prohibiting the possession, carrying, manufacturing and sale of certain other dangerous weapons and the giving, transferring and disposition thereof to other persons within this state; providing for the registering of the sales of firearms; prohibiting the carrying or possession of concealed weapons in municipal corporations; providing for the destruction of certain dangerous weapons as nuisances and making it a felony to use or attempt to use certain dangerous weapons against another, § 7.

SEC 7. Every person in the business of selling, leasing or otherwise transferring a pistol, revolver or other firearm, of a size capable of being concealed upon the person, whether such seller, leasor or transferrer is a retail dealer, pawnbroker, or otherwise, except as hereinafter provided, shall keep a register in which shall be entered the time of sale, the date of sale, the name of the salesman making the sale, the place where sold, the make, model, manufacturer's number, caliber or other marks of identification on such pistol, revolver or other firearm. Such register shall be prepared by and obtained from the state printer and shall be furnished by the state printer to said dealers on application at a cost of three dollars per one hundred leaves in duplicate and shall be in the form hereinafter provided. The purchaser of any firearm, capable of being concealed upon the person shall sign, and the dealer shall require him to sign his name and affix his address to said register in duplicate and the salesman shall affix his signature in duplicate as a witness to the signatures of the purchaser. Any person signing a fictitious name or address is guilty of a misdemeanor. The duplicate sheet of such register shall on the evening of the day of sale, be placed in the mail, postage prepaid and properly addressed to the board of police commissioners, chief of police, city marshal, town marshal, or other head of the police department of the city, city and county, town or other municipal corporation wherein the sale was made; provided, that where the sale is made in a district where there is no municipal police department, said duplicate sheet shall be mailed to the county clerk of the county wherein the sale is made. A violation of any of the provisions of this section by any person engaged in the business of selling, leasing or otherwise transferring such firearms is a misdemeanor. This section shall not apply to wholesale dealers in their business intercourse with retail dealers, nor to wholesale or retail dealers in the regular or ordinary transportation of unloaded firearms as merchandise by mail, express or other mode of shipment, to points outside of the city, city and county, town or municipal corporation wherein they are situated. The register provided for in this act shall be substantially in the following form: [Requires salesman name, city, town, or township, description of arm, maker, number, caliber, name of purchaser, age, permanent residence, height, occupation, skin color, eye color, hair color, local address if applicable].
SEC 8. Nothing in this act shall be construed to apply to sheriffs, constables, marshals, policemen or other duly appointed peace officers, nor to any person summoned by any such officers to assist in making arrest or preserving the peace while said person so summoned is actually engaged in assisting such officer; nor to duly authorized military or civil organizations while parading nor to the members thereof when going to and from the places of meeting of their respective organizations; nor to the possession or transportation by any merchant of unloaded firearms as merchandise; nor to bona fide members of any club or organization now existing or hereinafter organized, for the purpose of practicing shooting at targets upon established target ranges, whether public or private, while such members are using any of the firearms referred to in this act upon or in such target ranges, or while going to and from such ranges.