25100-25130
PENAL CODE
SECTION 25100-25130
25100. (a) Except as provided in Section 25105, a person commits the crime of "criminal storage of a firearm of the first degree" if all of the following conditions are satisfied: (1) The person keeps any loaded firearm within any premises that are under the person's custody or control. (2) The person knows or reasonably should know that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the child's parent or legal guardian. (3) The child obtains access to the firearm and thereby causes death or great bodily injury to the child or any other person. (b) Except as provided in Section 25105, a person commits the crime of "criminal storage of a firearm of the second degree" if all of the following conditions are satisfied: (1) The person keeps any loaded firearm within any premises that are under the person's custody or control. (2) The person knows or reasonably should know that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the child's parent or legal guardian. (3) The child obtains access to the firearm and thereby causes injury, other than great bodily injury, to the child or any other person, or carries the firearm either to a public place or in violation of Section 417. 25105. Section 25100 does not apply whenever any of the following occurs: (a) The child obtains the firearm as a result of an illegal entry to any premises by any person. (b) The firearm is kept in a locked container or in a location that a reasonable person would believe to be secure. (c) The firearm is carried on the person or within close enough proximity thereto that the individual can readily retrieve and use the firearm as if carried on the person. (d) The firearm is locked with a locking device, as defined in Section 16860, which has rendered the firearm inoperable. (e) The person is a peace officer or a member of the Armed Forces or the National Guard and the child obtains the firearm during, or incidental to, the performance of the person's duties. (f) The child obtains, or obtains and discharges, the firearm in a lawful act of self-defense or defense of another person. (g) The person who keeps a loaded firearm on any premise that is under the person's custody or control has no reasonable expectation, based on objective facts and circumstances, that a child is likely to be present on the premises. 25110. (a) Criminal storage of a firearm in the first degree is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, or two or three years, by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine; or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine. (b) Criminal storage of a firearm in the second degree is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine. 25115. If a person who allegedly violated Section 25100 is the parent or guardian of a child who is injured or who dies as the result of an accidental shooting, the district attorney shall consider, among other factors, the impact of the injury or death on the person alleged to have violated Section 25100 when deciding whether to prosecute the alleged violation. It is the Legislature's intent that a parent or guardian of a child who is injured or who dies as the result of an accidental shooting shall be prosecuted only in those instances in which the parent or guardian behaved in a grossly negligent manner or where similarly egregious circumstances exist. This section shall not otherwise restrict, in any manner, the factors that a district attorney may consider when deciding whether to prosecute an alleged violation of Section 25100. 25120. (b) In addition to the limitation stated in subdivision (a), before arresting a person for a violation of Section 25100, a law enforcement officer shall consider the health status of a child who suffered great bodily injury as the result of an accidental shooting, if the person to be arrested is the parent or guardian of the injured child. The intent of this section is to encourage law enforcement officials to delay the arrest of a parent or guardian of a seriously injured child while the child remains on life-support equipment or is in a similarly critical medical condition. 25125. (a) The fact that a person who allegedly violated Section 25100 attended a firearm safety training course prior to the purchase of the firearm that was obtained by a child in violation of Section 25100 shall be considered a mitigating factor by a district attorney when deciding whether to prosecute the alleged violation. (b) In any action or trial commenced under Section 25100, the fact that the person who allegedly violated Section 25100 attended a firearm safety training course prior to the purchase of the firearm that was obtained by a child in violation of Section 25100 is admissible. 25130. Every person licensed under Sections 26700 to 26915, inclusive, shall post within the licensed premises the notice required by Section 26835, disclosing the duty imposed by this chapter upon any person who keeps a loaded firearm.