Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

You should have received a notice from the law enforcement agency holding the guns that states they are no longer being held by the law enforcement agency as evidence. That notice is usually sent to the registered owner of the gun, as reflected in records maintained by the Department of Justice.

At that point, you have to pay a fee and obtain a law enforcement gun release form. You can read about it and obtain the form here: http://ag.ca.gov/firearms/legrinfo.php

It is also a good idea to have paperwork showing that ownership of the firearms.

Your post is a bit problematic, because you refer to the guns as belonging to your ex husband, and then state that "we" need to get the guns back. Only the registered owner of the firearms can get the guns back.

Police agencies seldom send notice. They generally don't want to release guns unless forced to. In addition, if the police agency refuses to release them to the gun owner, then the gun owner will have to file an formal Motion in the court seeking an order for release. The motion will need to prove ownership and show good cause for release. If serious about hiring counsel to help you in this, and if this is in SoCal courts, feel free to contact me.