A former licensed firearms dealer in Stockton was arrested after investigators searching his home found roughly 440 guns, including two machine guns, four suppressors and 20 assault weapons, along with drugs and thousands of dollars in cash. Police say 33-year-old Joseph Gogna had been operating a gun business out of Stockton even after he became prohibited from possessing firearms at all.
According to CBS Sacramento, police said Gogna accepted guns on consignment from owners but then failed to pay them the proceeds after those weapons were sold. Investigators also allege he transferred, sold or otherwise took guns without the owners' consent or knowledge, according to the outlet's report.
The search of Gogna's home turned up far more than a handful of stray weapons. Police recovered stolen guns mixed in among the roughly 440 firearms, along with magazines and ammunition, per the same account. Officers also found more than $7,000 in cash, about six pounds of marijuana, and dozens of grams of suspected psilocybin mushrooms.
Charges Include Child Endangerment
Gogna faces multiple firearms violations along with charges of possession of controlled substances and child endangerment, the report states. The dossier does not specify additional details behind the child endangerment charge beyond its inclusion among the counts filed against him.
Under California Penal Code § 32625, possessing or knowingly transporting a machine gun without authorization is a felony that can bring county jail time and fines up to $10,000, while converting a firearm into a machine gun carries up to eight years in state prison, according to Los Angeles Criminal Lawyer. The four suppressors recovered from his home fall under Penal Code § 33410, which bans civilian possession, sale or transport of silencers outright as a felony punishable by up to three years in prison, per Shouse Law Group. California does not recognize federal tax stamps or permits for civilian suppressor ownership.
How a Prohibited Person Kept a Gun Business Running
The case raises a pointed question: how did someone barred from possessing firearms continue running what police describe as a consignment operation involving hundreds of guns? Under Penal Code § 29800, anyone prohibited from possessing firearms who owns, buys or possesses one faces up to three years in state prison, according to the California Department of Justice. Separately, state law under Penal Code §§ 28050 and 32110 requires that consignment sales go through a licensed dealer who keeps physical custody of the weapon and completes background checks and transfer records before it ever reaches a buyer, per FindLaw.
California tracks people who legally acquired guns but later lost the right to possess them through the Armed and Prohibited Persons System, a statewide database that cross-references criminal records against firearm registration data, according to a study published in PMC. The system is designed to catch exactly the scenario alleged in Gogna's case, though the dossier does not indicate whether or how he first appeared on it. Separately, Senate Bill 965, enacted in 2024, now requires the state to publish annual reports on inspections of licensed firearms dealers and any violations found, a step toward the kind of oversight advocates say could catch problems earlier.
Part of a Broader Pattern in Stockton
This is not the first time Stockton has seen a large-scale firearms haul. In November 2024, a trafficking raid in the city led to the seizure of more than 141 firearms, including machine guns, alongside drugs and cash, resulting in two arrests. Two months later, a joint operation between San José police and Stockton's SWAT and Gang Violence Suppression units dismantled an illegal firearm ring moving weapons between the two cities, seizing 13 guns and 5,000 rounds of ammunition.
Stockton has also leaned on voluntary measures alongside enforcement. In March 2025, the police department collected 113 firearms from residents during a community buyback event aimed at reducing the number of guns in circulation locally. Federal tracing data released by the ATF in December 2024 showed that thousands of firearms recovered by California agencies in 2023 were traced back to their original retail sale and any intermediate owners, a tool investigators use to untangle exactly the kind of diverted or stolen weapons found in Gogna's home.
