California gun laws allows most adults to buy and possession a gun, but there are many statutes that limit or prevent citizens from acquiring a firearm.
Further, after someone possesses a firearm, there are even laws on requirements for transporting and storage of a firearm. The state of California has laws prohibiting carry a concealed firearm or openly carrying a gun, whether loaded or unloaded.
There are also laws that ban anyone of possession, making, or selling certain firearms, such as short-barrel (sawed-off) shotguns and certain types of rifles.
California has statutes banning assault weapons and BMG rifles, including possession, distribution, manufacturing, and transportation.
There are locations where it's illegal to possess a firearm, such as schools, public and government buildings, airports, and public transit facilities.
Most gun laws are “wobblers” that can be charged as either a misdemeanor or felony crime, and some convictions will result in a defendant losing their right to own or possess a firearm.
For more information, our Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers are providing an overview below.
California Gun Possession Laws
There are many common laws in California that make it a crime for someone to have possession of a firearm. Let's review below:
Penal Code 25400 PC – carrying a concealed weapon. This statute makes it a crime to carry a concealed weapon on your person on in a vehicle.
Penal Code 25850 PC – carrying a loaded firearm in public. This statute makes it a crime to carry a loaded firearm on your person or a vehicle.
Penal Code 26350 PC – carrying unloaded firearm in public. It' also illegal to carry an unloaded firearm openly in any public place in California.
Penal Code 16590 PC – prohibited weapons. This statute makes it a crime to possess certain weapons, such as brass knuckles and short-barrel shotguns.
Penal Code 29800 PC – felon in possession of a firearm. It's a crime for a convicted felon to own, purchase, or have possession of a firearm in California.
Vehicle Searches During Traffic Stop
Right now, Los Angeles County is very harsh when it comes to possessing a gun illegally. How we're seeing these cases come up is in various manners. Usually, I see it in car searches. A car gets pulled over. The police:
- end up either getting consent to search the car, or
- they have probable car to search the car.
For example, someone hides the gun and they see them hide it, or the police just cheat and just search the car because they want to.
Later, they will lie about getting consent to search the car or lie and say the saw a gun protruding or in plain view is one of their favorite things they like to say.
Loss of Your Right to Bear Arms
But the bottom line is, consequences of these gun cases are not good right now. Both the District Attorney's office, who prosecute felony cases and the City Attorney's office who prosecute misdemeanor gun cases are very harsh when it comes to these types of offenses.
One of the biggest weapons they have is, they will try to take your gun rights away from you. For example, if you get convicted of any felony in Los Angeles county, you lose your right to bear arms forever.
Some of the misdemeanor cases also prevent you from bearing arms, such as:
- for a domestic violence misdemeanor conviction, you're typically going to lose your right to have a gun for 10 — a full decade.
- if you get put on probation for a felony or a misdemeanor, they can make it part of your probation that you're not allowed to own, use or possess a gun or ammunition.
Getting Gun Card in California Is Next to Impossible
So, they're really trying to get guns off the streets. Don't kid yourself. The police, prosecutors, judges — they do not like guns. They don't like people to have them.
They know that it makes it much more dangerous for the rest of society and the police when they're trying to deal with people who have guns.
Of course, on the flip side, the argument is that if there are people out there with guns, I should be able to defend myself and my home and in other locations if I think that I may be unsafe.
It's almost impossible to get a gun card in LA county allowing you to possess a gun. So, you have a lot of people getting busted for gun-related offenses.
Criminal Defense for California Gun Possession Cases
So, if you or a loved one has been charged with a gun crime, has been arrested for a gun crime — pick up the phone. Meet with a criminal defense attorney who's been doing this almost three decades, who:
- knows how to handle these gun cases,
- knows how to protect your gun rights,
- knows how to keep you out of jail.
Some people really don't care if they lose their gun rights, while others will not take any sort of a deal if they're going to lose their gun rights, and then of course, there's those people in the middle.
You're going to have to decide where you fall if you're charged with gun possession in LA county. Then, you sit down with somebody like me and:
- we'll talk about realistically, whether you are going to lose your gun rights;
- whether or not you do have a defense in your criminal case.
Then, we can discuss what are some of the things you can do to protect not only your gun rights, but your reputation, your freedom, your criminal record.
Further, all of the things that can flow from a criminal conviction related to a gun possession case, a gun use case. Sometimes you might have self-defense arguments.
The bottom line is, if you're in trouble and you're charged with some sort of a gun case, pick up the phone now. Ask for meeting with Ron Hedding.
We'll sit down in the privacy of my office. We'll figure out, number one, whether the prosecutors actually have the evidence to prove a criminal case against you.
Then we can see whether or not your gun rights are in jeopardy and whether your freedom is in jeopardy, and then finally, we're going to figure out what it's going to take to get you the best possible result.
Take the first step now. Pick up the phone. Set up a meeting with Ron Hedding. I stand at the ready to help you.
Hedding Law Firm is based in Los Angeles County at 16000 Ventura Blvd #1208 Encino, CA 91436. Contact us for a free consultation at (213) 542-0979.
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