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Firearms Safety
California Law Regarding Safe Storage of Firearms
California Law Regarding Safe Storage of Firearms
As of July 1, 2023, California school districts are required to remind parents/guardians of their responsibility in keeping firearms out of the hands of children as required by law. According to the California Department of Education, there have been numerous news reports across the country of students bringing a firearm to school. In many cases, the firearms were brought in from home. These incidents can be easily prevented by storing firearms in a safe and secure manner, including keeping them locked up when not in use and storing them separately from ammunition.
We encourage you to read Assembly Bill No. 452 and Senate Bill 906 for more context, data, and information on this topic. You can also visit the California Department of Education’s Safe Schools pages for further resources.
To help everyone understand their legal responsibilities, this letter spells out California law regarding the storage of firearms. Please take time to review it and evaluate your own personal practices to ensure that you and your family are in compliance with California law.
- With very limited exceptions, California makes a person criminally liable for keeping any firearm, loaded or unloaded, within any premises that are under their custody and control where that 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, and the child obtains access to the firearm and thereby (1) causes death or injury to the child or any other person; (2) carries the firearm off the premises or to a public place, including to any preschool or school grades kindergarten through twelfth grade, or to any school-sponsored event, activity, or performance; or (3) unlawfully brandishes the firearm to others
Note: The criminal penalty may be significantly greater if someone dies or suffers great bodily injury as a result of the child gaining access to the firearm. - With very limited exceptions, California also makes it a crime for a person to negligently store or leave any firearm, loaded or unloaded, on their premises in a location where the person knows or reasonably should know that a child is likely to gain access to it without the permission of the child’s parent or legal guardian, unless reasonable action is taken to secure the firearm against access by the child, even where a minor never actually accesses the firearm.
- In addition to potential fines and terms of imprisonment, as of January 1, 2020, a gun owner found criminally liable under these California laws faces being prohibited from possessing, controlling, owning, receiving, or purchasing a firearm for 10 years.
- Finally, a parent or guardian may also be civilly liable for damages resulting from the discharge of a firearm by that person’s child or ward.
We appreciate your efforts in ensuring the safety of our school community. Please keep in mind that the simplest and most secure way to adhere to the law is by storing firearms in a locked container or using a locking device that renders the firearm inoperable.