California Gun Control Laws

Gun control is a very hot topic here in the United States, especially whenever a tragedy strikes. When these tragedies occur, everyone begins to reexamine the laws in the area to try and figure out if something could have been done to prevent it from ever occurring.

Here in the California, residents face some of the strictest gun control laws in the entire nation. The idea is to keep guns out of the hands of people who would hurt others with the firearms while still allowing law abiding citizens to possess them.

California’s Gun-Related Laws

The state of California literally has dozens of laws surrounding the topic of gun use and ownership. In order to own a gun, a person has to be over the age of 21, pass a background check, not have any certain prior convictions or felonies, and buy the gun and ammo from a licensed vendor. The following Penal Codes (PC) are some of the numerous gun control laws present here in the state of California.

• PC 171c makes it a crime to bring a loaded firearm into a government building.
• PC 171.5 makes it a crime to bring a loaded firearm into airports and passenger terminals.
• PC 245a2 makes it illegal to assault someone with a firearm.
• PC 246 makes it a crime to shoot a firearm at an inhabited building or vehicle.
• PC 247b makes it a crime to shoot a firearm at an uninhabited building or vehicle.
• PC 417 makes it illegal to brandish a weapon in a public place. This applies to all weapons, not just firearms.
• PC 626.9 is California’s Gun-Free School Zone Act. This law prohibits anyone from possessing or discharging a firearm within 1,000 feet from a public or private school.
• PC 12022 is a sentence modifier law that allows for additional consequences to be added to any felony punishment where the crime involved a firearm.
• PC 16590 bans “generally prohibited weapons.”
• PC 22610 lists who can legally own a stun gun, which is most people who haven’t been convicted of certain crimes.
• PC 25400 makes it a crime to knowingly carry a concealed, loaded firearm.
• PC 25850 makes it a crime to carry a loaded firearm in public.
• PC 26150 allows the county sheriff to issue permits to carry a weapon that could be concealed on a person. Basically the permits allows a person to carry smaller fire arms. The person must prove they are of good moral character, they have a good reason for wanting the permit, they are a resident of that particular city, and have completed a prescribed firearm training.
• PC 26155 allows heads of police departments to issue permits to carry a weapon that could be concealed on a person. Basically the permits allows a person to carry smaller fire arms. The person must prove they are of good moral character, they have a good reason for wanting the permit, they are a resident of that particular city, and have completed a prescribed firearm training.
• PC 26500 makes it a misdemeanor to sell, lease, or transfer a firearm without a license to do so.
• PC 26700 lists the requirements to become a licensed dealer of firearms.
• PC 29800 prevents convicted felons, people convicted of specific misdemeanors, and people addicted to narcotics from owning a gun.
• PC 29810 requires that anyone convicted of certain crimes relinquish their firearms to the authorities. This is for most felonies and includes a few misdemeanors as well.
• PC 29900 makes it illegal for a person to own a gun if they committed or attempted to commit a violent offense.
• PC 30315 makes it a crime to own armor piercing ammunition.
• PC 30600 bans assault weapons and rifles.
• PC 33410 makes it a felony to own a silencer.

There Are a Lot

The state of California has a lot of laws surrounding the use and ownership of firearms in the hopes that these laws will prevent gun violence from happening. Unfortunately, all of these laws don’t always work out, which is why law makers and people all over the state begin to consider new ways to try to keep people safe after a tragedy has occurred.