DY9Z / California Handgun Roster

DY9Z in California. Here Is What the “+” Means and What Comes Next

The DY9Z passed every test under the Unsafe Handgun Act and is now listed. California dealers still cannot sell it new. We want to walk you through why, and what we are building next.

Today the California Department of Justice added the Derya DY9Z to the Roster of Certified Handguns. We want to walk you through what that means, what it does not, and what we are doing next.

01

News

The DY9Z passed every test under California’s Unsafe Handgun Act: firing, drop, chamber load indicator, and magazine disconnect. The Department confirmed in writing that the DY9Z meets the Act’s statutory and regulatory requirements. That is a hard list to get on, and we are proud the DY9Z is on it.

02

The “+”

You will see a “+” next to the DY9Z on the roster. That is the Department’s designation under AB 1127, California’s 2025 law on what it calls “machinegun-convertible pistols.” According to the Department, a “+” means the handgun cannot be sold, transferred, or delivered by a California firearms dealer as of July 1, 2026, unless an exception in Penal Code section 27595 applies. Several pistols from other manufacturers that have been on the roster for years carry the same mark.

So the DY9Z is on the roster, but California dealers cannot sell it new. We know that is not the news you were hoping for. It is not the news we were hoping for either.

03

What Happened

The DY9Z’s TVM slide (patent pending) was designed so that a pistol converter cannot be installed in place of the slide’s backplate. The Department reviewed the TVM slide in detail, and nothing in its decision faults the slide.

The Department’s position is about the frame, not the slide. In the Department’s view, the DY9Z frame will accept other slides that are available on the market and that can accept a converter, and on that basis it classified the DY9Z, as submitted, under AB 1127. That is the Department’s characterization, not ours, and we do not agree with it.

04

The 43X CA Set the Standard

Here is the part that decided it for us. Glock has already built a California-specific pistol, the Glock 43X CA, and the Department listed it under the new law on September 29, 2026. In its letter to us, the Department pointed to the 43X CA directly and said it could not perform on that pistol the same slide swap and conversion it says it performed on the DY9Z. The Department has made that the bar.

We have not examined the 43X CA. We do not know what Glock changed, and we make no representations about it. What we do know is that a large manufacturer has already built what the Department asked for, and the Department approved it. That means a cruciform-trigger pistol whose frame accepts current aftermarket slides is not going to be sold new in California right now, no matter whose name is on it. This is not every pistol in California. It is pistols with a cruciform trigger bar, the design AB 1127 was written around.

We respectfully disagree with the designation on the DY9Z as submitted. We believe the pistol we built, with the slide we built, is what the law describes as not convertible, and we are preserving every option on that question. But we are not going to make California customers wait on a legal process. The California DOJ has told us, in writing, what it wants. We are not a massive company, and we would rather spend the next few months building than the next few years arguing.

If the facts turn out to be different than they appear, we hope to get something done for the DY9Z with the TVM slide as it is. Either way, the DY9Z TVM is coming.

05

What Is Next: The DY9Z TVM and the DY9 TVM

We are building the DY9Z TVM. It is the DY9Z, with the same TVM slide, trigger, barrel, and internals, and changes to the frame so that only the TVM slide fits. The DY9Z TVM will not accept current aftermarket slides. Period. That is what the California DOJ asked for, it is what the California DOJ says the Glock 43X CA already is, and it is what we will deliver.

Once the DY9Z TVM is submitted, the DY9 TVM follows, built the same way, so TVM slides will interchange across the TVM models.

The TVM models are built to accept Derya TVM slides only. That is by design, and it is the trade the California DOJ requires.

06

Timing

The DY9Z TVM goes to the California testing laboratory as soon as prototypes are ready. We are targeting a listing in the first quarter of 2027, subject to laboratory testing and the Department’s review, and we will post updates here as the submission moves.

07

Thanksgiving, Christmas, and a Derya Under the Tree

We wanted the DY9Z in California in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We wanted a Derya under your tree this year. We are sorry that will not be the DY9Z, and we will do everything we can to make it the DY9Z TVM next year.

08

The Current DY9Z

While the designation is in place, Derya is not supplying the DY9Z to California dealers for retail sale. We are continuing to pursue the appropriate avenues regarding the designation on the DY9Z as submitted. If that changes, you will hear it here first. Either way, the DY9Z TVM and the DY9 TVM are coming.

Glock and Glock 43X are trademarks of Glock, Inc. Derya is not affiliated with Glock, Inc. and makes no representations regarding its products.

DERYA

Actions Speak Louder™ · Jacksonville, Florida · © 2026 Derya