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Personal Firearm Instruction

storing firearms

Storing Firearms

Storing

California’s attorney general provides several recommendations on gun storage. The attorney general encourages gun owners to:

  1. store their gun with a state-approved firearm safety device on it (for example, a trigger lock or a cable lock),
  2. ensure that their weapon is not loaded,
  3. put their firearm in a locked container (a lockbox or a gun safe), and
  4. store their gun in a different location than the ammunition.

Additional safety measures will apply in the event that either:

  1. children are present in the location where a gun is being stored, and
  2. a person prohibited from possessing a gun is present in the location where the gun is being stored.

Child present

Per Penal Code 25100 PC it is a crime for a gun owner to:

  1. store a loaded firearm in a home, or within an area of the owner’s control, and
  2. do so when the owner knows, or should know, that a child could access it without a parent’s permission.

This means if a gun owner knows that a child can access a stored gun, he/she should:

  1. make certain that it is unloaded, and
  2. store it in a place outside of the child’s access (like a locked container).

A violation of the above law is a misdemeanor offense. The crime is punishable by up to one year in county jail. This punishment will increase if a child accesses the weapon and causes:

Note that no criminal charges will be filed if a child accessed the gun in a lawful act of self-defense or in the defense of another person.

Storage with prohibited person

Penal Code 25100 PC also makes it a crime for a gun owner to:

  1. store a loaded gun in a home, or within an area of the owner’s control, and
  2. do so when the owner knows, or should know, that a person prohibited from possessing a firearm could access it.

This means if a gun owner knows that an adult who cannot possess a gun can access the weapon, he/she should:

  1. make certain that it is unloaded, and
  2. store it in a place outside of the adult’s access (like in a locked container).

A violation of the above law is charged as a misdemeanor. The crime is punishable by up to one year in county jail.

Note that this punishment increases if an adult gets to the weapon and causes:

  • harm,
  • great bodily injury, or
  • death.

In such cases, the crime can be charged as a felony and lead to custody in state prison for up to three years.

Note, though, that no criminal charges will be filed if the prohibited person accessed a gun in a lawful act of self-defense or in the defense of another person.

M., D. (2022, March 27). California gun laws 2022 – your top 12 questions answered. Shouse Law Group. Retrieved May 4, 2022, from https://www.shouselaw.com/ca/defense/gun-laws/