“everything he owned here in Kentucky is illegal in California.”
What did he own, machine guns? There are very few guns that you cannot own in California.
He had a couple of rifles (an AR-15 and an SKS) and two pistols (a Browning 9mm and a Para-Ordinance .45), but when he went to the local sheriff’s office to register them he was informed that he could not bring them into the state. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but that’s what he was told.