Citation(s) from the GunPolicy.org literature library
Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 2024 ‘Firearm Prohibitions in California.’ Who Can Have a Gun. San Francisco, CA: Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 4 December
Relevant contents
[Editor's note: The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence regularly updates its webpages with new data as US gun regulation evolves state by state. For the most up-to-date information on US gun laws, please refer to the Giffords URL below]
Prohibited Purchasers Generally in California
Federal law prohibits certain persons from purchasing or possessing firearms, such as felons, certain domestic abusers, and certain people with a history of mental illness. California law, however, is broader than federal law on this point. California prohibits the purchase or possession of firearms by any person who:
- Has been convicted of a felony, or is addicted to narcotic drugs;
- Has been convicted of specified crimes, both felonies and misdemeanors, relating to violence or the unlawful use of firearms;
- As an express condition of probation, is prohibited or restricted from owning, possessing, controlling, receiving, or purchasing a firearm;
- Is adjudged a ward of the juvenile court because the person committed an offense involving violence, drugs or firearms (including the carrying of a concealed firearm, the carrying of a loaded firearm in public or the possession of a firearm in a vehicle, regardless of whether the firearm was concealed or loaded). The prohibition stays in effect only until the person reaches age 30;
- Knows he or she is subject to a protective order, restraining order, temporary restraining order or injunction issued by a court pursuant to state law (…); or
- Is prohibited because of a history of mental illness or chronic alcoholism…
California prohibits the following people from purchasing or possessing firearms because of mental health-related issues:
1. Inpatient Treatment: A person who has been admitted to a facility and is receiving inpatient treatment for a mental illness and the attending mental health professional opines that the patient is a danger to self or others. This prohibition applies even if the person has consented to the treatment, although the prohibition ends as soon as the patient is discharged from the facility. This prohibition is broader than federal law in that it includes persons voluntarily admitted to a mental facility.
2. Threats of Physical Violence: A person who communicates to a licensed psychotherapist a serious threat of physical violence against a reasonably identifiable victim or victims. This prohibition applies for six months after the licensed psychotherapist reports the identity of the person making the threat to local law enforcement, and the subject of this prohibition may petition to have it removed.
3. Adjudication: A person who has been adjudicated to be a danger to others as a result of a mental disorder or mental illness or has been adjudicated to be a mentally disordered sex offender. This prohibition does not apply if the court of adjudication issues, upon the individual's release from treatment or at a later date, a certificate stating that the person may possess a firearm without endangering others.
4. Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity: A person who has been found not guilty by reason of insanity of enumerated violent felonies.
5. Incompetent to Stand Trial: A person who has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial. This prohibition is permanent unless there is a subsequent finding that the person has become competent.
6. Conservatorship: A person who is currently under a court-ordered conservatorship because he or she is gravely disabled as a result of a mental disorder (or impaired by chronic alcoholism). The prohibition ends when the conservatorship ends.
7. 72-Hour Detention: A person who has been taken into custody, and placed in a county mental health facility where a professional in charge of the facility has assessed that the person cannot be properly served without being detained and evaluated for at least 72 hours, and that the person is a danger to himself or herself or others as a result of a mental disorder. This prohibition lasts for five years. However, a person barred from firearm possession by this provision may petition the superior court for an order permitting him or her to possess firearms. At the hearing, the state must show by a preponderance of the evidence that the person "would not be likely to use firearms in a safe and lawful manner."
8. 14-Day Detention: A person who has been involuntarily committed for intensive mental health treatment for 14 or more days. This prohibition lasts for five years. As above, a person barred from firearm possession by this provision may petition the superior court for an order permitting him or her to possess firearms. This provision is weaker than federal law because it lasts for five years while the federal prohibition is permanent.
Court-Ordered Evaluations and Counseling: California law provides a process by which any individual may request a designated county agency to petition a court to order an evaluation to determine whether a person is, as a result of mental disorder, a danger to others, or to him or herself, or is gravely disabled (unable to meet his or her own physical needs). If the court grants the petition, an evaluation is performed. If, after the evaluation, the subject is deemed to be a danger to self or others or gravely disabled, he or she will be prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms and referred for voluntary treatment, ordered detained for 14 days for intensive inpatient treatment, or recommended for conservatorship…