California law prohibits convicted felons, violent offenders, the mentally ill, persons with restraining orders and other specified individuals from possessing a gun. This included people convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence.



Felony Convictions

A felony firearm crime may involve unlawfully carrying a firearm when a felony crime was attempted or committed. It is also a felony firearm crime for a convicted felon to possess a firearm at any time. A person can also be charged in a felony firearm case when they knowingly purchase a firearm for a felon, an offense called “straw" purchasing. Any act of readying a firearm for a crime is also a felony firearm crime

California Penal Code Section 12021 applies to people who have been convicted of a felony, reading in part:

“(a) (1) Any person who has been convicted of a felony under the laws of the United States, of the State of California, or any other state, government, or country, or of an offense enumerated in subdivision (a), (b), or (d) of Section 12001.6, or who is addicted

to the use of any narcotic drug, who owns, purchases, receives, or has in his or her possession or under his or her custody or control any firearm is guilty of a felony."

Domestic Violence

Anyone who has ever been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence can no longer legally own, ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms or ammunition and no one can sell or otherwise dispose of a firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the recipient has been convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor.

California Penal Code Section 12028.5 defines domestic violence, reading in part:

“(2) "Domestic violence" means abuse perpetrated against any of the following persons:

(A) A spouse or former spouse.

(B) A cohabitant or former cohabitant, as defined in Section 6209 of the Family Code.

(C) A person with whom the respondent is having or has had a dating or engagement relationship.

(D) A person with whom the respondent has had a child, where the presumption applies that the male parent is the father of the child of the female parent under the Uniform Parentage Act (Part 3 (commencing with Section 7600) of Division 12 of the Family Code).

(E) A child of a party or a child who is the subject of an action under the Uniform Parentage Act, where the presumption applies that the male parent is the father of the child to be protected.

(F) Any other person related by consanguinity or affinity within the second degree."

The U.S. Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1997 attaches penalties to a misdemeanor conviction and covers everyone who owns or uses a handgun, including federal, state and local law enforcement officers, police officers, deputy sheriffs, federal drug enforcement officials, customs officers, game wardens, campus police, private police, security guards, warehouse guards, railroad police, prison guards and everyone in any type of law enforcement is covered under the new law. Those who have been convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor will not be able to lawfully possess or receive firearms or ammunition for any purpose, including using guns in their official duties.

The impact of this law is significant because of the millions of misdemeanor convictions that have been entered across the United States in the past twenty years involving family violence. This prohibition applies to everyone without exception and broadly defines crimes of domestic violence to include cases involving not only current and former spouses, parents and children, but current and former cohabitants, including putative spouses, common law spouses and the children of such persons and persons with whom the wrongdoer shares a child in common.

The broad definition of domestic violence misdemeanor includes all misdemeanors that involve the use, or attempted use, of physical force (e.g., simple assault, assault and battery) if the offense is committed by one of the defined parties. This is true whether or not the State statute or local ordinance specifically defines the offense as a domestic violence misdemeanor. For example, a person convicted of misdemeanor assault, i.e., attempted harm, as opposed to actual physical contact, against his or her spouse would be prohibited from receiving or possessing firearms or ammunition.

The law covers all past misdemeanor offenses. Even if the wrongdoer was convicted of a domestic violence related misdemeanor in 1986, 10 years before the effective date of the new statute, and attempts to buys a firearm on October 10, 2006, because he has been convicted of a spousal abuse crime, he may not lawfully possess firearms or ammunition.

Any gun owners previously convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor must immediately dispose of all firearms and ammunition in their possession. The continued possession of firearms and ammunition by such people is a violation of law and can subject the possessor to criminal penalties. In addition, such firearms and ammunition are subject to seizure and forfeiture.

Possession of explosive devices

It is a felony to possess explosive devices in the following situations:

?To carry any explosive or destructive device on any vessel, aircraft, car, or other vehicle that transports passengers for hire.

?To place or carry any explosive or destructive device, while on board any such vessel, aircraft, car or other vehicle, in any hand baggage, roll, or other container.

?To place any explosive or destructive device in any baggage which is later checked with any common carrier

The punishment for this crime is imprisonment in the state prison for 2, 4, or 6 years.

California Penal Code Section 12301 defines what an explosive device (aka destructive device) is, reading:

(a) The term "destructive device," as used in this chapter, shall include any of the following weapons:

(1) Any projectile containing any explosive or incendiary material or any other chemical substance, including, but not limited to, that which is commonly known as tracer or incendiary ammunition, except tracer ammunition manufactured for use in shotguns.

(2) Any bomb, grenade, explosive missile, or similar device or any launching device therefore.

(3) Any weapon of a caliber greater than 0.60 caliber which fires fixed ammunition, or any ammunition therefore, other than a shotgun (smooth or rifled bore) conforming to the definition of a "destructive device" found in subsection (b) of Section 479.11 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations, shotgun ammunition (single projectile or shot), antique rifle, or an antique cannon. For purposes of this section, the term "antique cannon" means any cannon manufactured before January 1, 1899, which has been rendered incapable of firing or for which ammunition is no longer manufactured in the United States and is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade. The term "antique rifle" means a firearm conforming to the definition of an "antique firearm" in Section 479.11 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(4) Any rocket, rocket-propelled projectile, or similar device of a diameter greater than 0.60 inch, or any launching device therefore, and any rocket, rocket-propelled projectile, or similar device containing any explosive or incendiary material or any other chemical substance, other than the propellant for that device, except those devices as are designed primarily for emergency or distress signaling purposes.

(5) Any breakable container which contains a flammable liquid with a flashpoint of 150 degrees Fahrenheit or less and has a wick or similar device capable of being ignited, other than a device which is commercially manufactured primarily for the purpose of illumination.

(6) Any sealed device containing dry ice (CO2) or other chemically reactive substances assembled for the purpose of causing an explosion by a chemical reaction.