The right to bear arms in California comes with certain stipulations in California. Some people who live in the state who simply aren’t allowed to own firearms. The group of people who aren’t allowed to have any firearms in their possession includes:
• Convicted felons
• Individuals who have a criminal history that includes convictions for some domestic violence offenses, including corporal injury to a spouse
• Anyone who has been diagnosed with certain mental illnesses
• Anyone under 18 years of age
• Anyone who has two or more convictions for brandishing a weapon in California
While most people who have been prohibited from owning firearms in California understand that they will be in serious legal trouble if they are caught with a gun, many don’t realize that in addition to not owning a gun, they’re also not supposed to have any ammunition. It often isn’t until they are arrested that they learn the case of bullets can have a detrimental impact on their future.
The issue of owning/possessing ammunition when you’re not legally allowed to own/possess a firearm is discussed in California Penal Code 30305(a)(1) PC. The law clearly states that:
“A person who is not prohibited by subdivision (a) from owning, possessing, or having under the person’s custody or control, any ammunition or reloaded ammunition, but who is enjoined from engaging in activity pursuant to an injunction issued pursuant to Section 3479 of the Civil Code against that person as a member of a criminal street gang, as defined in Section 186.22, may not own, possess, or have under the person’s custody or control, any ammunition or reloaded ammunition.”
In cases involving a violation of California Penal Code 30305(a)(1) PC, ammunition includes anything that’s typically loaded into a firearm and fired from it and that has the potential to be fatal. This includes:
• Speed loaders
• Cartridges
• Clips
• Autoloaders
Cases involving a violation of California Penal Code 30305(a)(1) PC aren’t always easy for the prosecution to win. To secure a conviction, they must:
• Prove that the defendant fully understood that they weren’t legally allowed to possess ammunition in California
One of the issues that often comes up in these cases is that the defendant didn’t fully understand just how restricted they were when it came to being around ammunition in California. While the individual knew that they weren’t allowed to own a firearm, and often knew this meant that they were prohibited from purchasing ammo, they didn’t realize that they could get into trouble for simply handling a friend’s ammunition. In California, if you’re legally banned from owning a firearm, you’re also legally banned from touching any type of ammunition.