Safe a life; lock your gun up so children cannot access it.
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Safe Storage
You have to have the firearm in a locked box or case (container); disable it with a firearm safety device; keep it in a locked gun safe (or gun cabinet); keep it in the locked trunk of your vehicle; use a lock that disables the gun from firing (through the action/trigger lock); or you carry the firearm on your person or keep it immediately at hand.
You may not put a firearm on a high shelf or some random hiding place hoping kids won’t find it. The whole purpose of this section is that if a curious child finds a firearm, they are unable to play with it and hurt themselves or someone else. A gun under a mattress, pillow, a bed or up high, inside a lot of boxes, hidden in a fake book or something, on a high shelf etc. is not allowed.
California gun laws are screwy but too many people leave guns accessible to children and too many children are involved in accidental shootings. Don’t risk your child, grandchild, or anyone else’s child. There are many quick action safes and devices that can keep your firearm ready for home defense that will also keep a young child from playing with guns.
You may not put a firearm on a high shelf or some random hiding place hoping kids won’t find it. The whole purpose of this section is that if a curious child finds a firearm, they are unable to play with it and hurt themselves or someone else. A gun under a mattress, pillow, a bed or up high, inside a lot of boxes, hidden in a fake book or something, on a high shelf etc. is not allowed.
California gun laws are screwy but too many people leave guns accessible to children and too many children are involved in accidental shootings. Don’t risk your child, grandchild, or anyone else’s child. There are many quick action safes and devices that can keep your firearm ready for home defense that will also keep a young child from playing with guns.
Safe storage requirements
Safe storage requirements
25135. (a) A person who is 18 years of age or older, and who is the owner, lessee, renter, or other legal occupant of a residence, who owns a firearm and who knows or has reason to know that another person also residing therein is prohibited by state or federal law from possessing, receiving, owning, or purchasing a firearm shall not keep in that residence any firearm that he or she owns unless one of the following applies:
(1) The firearm is maintained within a locked container.
(2) The firearm is disabled by a firearm safety device.
(3) The firearm is maintained within a locked gun safe.
(4) The firearm is maintained within a locked trunk.
(5) The firearm is locked with a locking device as described in Section 16860, which has rendered the firearm inoperable.
(6) 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.
(b) A violation of this section is a misdemeanor.
(c) The provisions of this section are cumulative, and do not restrict the application of any other law. However, an act or omission punishable in different ways by different provisions of law shall not be punished under more than one provision.
Note: your firearm does not have to be unloaded within the home. Any local ordinances requiring unloaded firearms at home would conflict with the Heller decision. You ammunition does not have to be stored separately.
The safest way to keep a child from injuring themselves with firearms is age appropriate firearm safety training. One such program for young children is the NRA’s Eddie Eagle program that teaches children to Stop; Don’t Touch; Run Away; and Tell an Adult.
Besides being a decent human being, why is this important?
Because it provides you with an exemption or defense if a child or prohibited person unlawfully accesses the weapon. Criminal storage of a firearm can be a felony.
Criminal storage of a firearm in the first degree
This crime has three elements: one, you are responsible for the firearm at your home/business/property; two, a child or a prohibited person accesses the firearm; three, the child or prohibited person kills or injures someone with the gun.
The safest way to keep a child from injuring themselves with firearms is age appropriate firearm safety training. One such program for young children is the NRA’s Eddie Eagle program that teaches children to Stop; Don’t Touch; Run Away; and Tell an Adult.
Besides being a decent human being, why is this important?
Because it provides you with an exemption or defense if a child or prohibited person unlawfully accesses the weapon. Criminal storage of a firearm can be a felony.
Criminal storage of a firearm in the first degree
This crime has three elements: one, you are responsible for the firearm at your home/business/property; two, a child or a prohibited person accesses the firearm; three, the child or prohibited person kills or injures someone with the gun.
25100. (a) Except as provided in Section 25105, a person commits the crime of “criminal storage of a firearm in the first degree” if all of the following conditions are satisfied:
(1) The person keeps any 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, or that a person prohibited from possessing a firearm or deadly weapon pursuant to state or federal law is likely to gain access to the firearm.
(3) The child obtains access to the firearm and thereby causes death or great bodily injury to the child or any other person, or the person prohibited from possessing a firearm or deadly weapon pursuant to state or federal law obtains access to the firearm and thereby causes death or great bodily injury to themselves or any other person.
This is punishable as a felony by 16 months to three years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine, or, as a misdemeanor by a year in jail and/or a $1,000.00 fine (25110(a)).
Criminal storage of a firearm in the second degree
Criminal storage of a firearm in the second degree
(b) Except as provided in Section 25105, a person commits the crime of “criminal storage of a firearm in the second degree” if all of the following conditions are satisfied:
(1) The person keeps any 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, or that a person prohibited from possessing a firearm or deadly weapon pursuant to state or federal law is likely to gain access to the firearm.
(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 [brandishing], or the person prohibited from possessing a firearm or deadly weapon pursuant to state or federal law obtains access to the firearm and thereby causes injury, other than great bodily injury, to themselves or any other person, or carries the firearm either to a public place or in violation of Section 417.
This is punishable as a misdemeanor by up to a year in jail and/or a $1,000.00 fine (25110(b)).
Criminal storage of a firearm in the third degree
Criminal storage of a firearm in the third degree
(c) Except as provided in Section 25105, a person commits the crime of “criminal storage of a firearm in the third degree” if the person keeps any firearm within any premises that are under the person’s custody or control and negligently stores or leaves a firearm in a location where 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, unless reasonable action is taken by the person to secure the firearm against access by the child.
A third degree violation is when a child gains access to the firearm, but no harm results. This is punishable as a misdemeanor by up to six months in jail and/or a $1,000.00 fine (25110(b) and 19).
Exemptions to criminal storage of a firearm
Exemptions to criminal storage of a firearm
25105. Section 25100 [criminal storage of a firearm] 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 firearm on premises that are 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.
Note that subsection (g) would apply to people who live alone and have no children.
Vehicle safe storage
From concealed weapon section
25612. A person shall, when leaving a handgun in an unattended vehicle, secure the handgun in the vehicle pursuant to Section 25140.
25140. (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b), a person shall, when leaving a handgun in an unattended vehicle, lock the handgun in the vehicle’s trunk, lock the handgun in a locked container and place the container out of plain view, lock the handgun in a locked container that is permanently affixed to the vehicle’s interior and not in plain view, or lock the handgun in a locked toolbox or utility box.
(b) [peace officers; omitted]
(c) A violation of subdivision (a) is an infraction punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(d) (1) As used in this section, the following definitions shall apply:
(A) “Locked container” means a secure container that is fully enclosed and locked by a padlock, keylock, combination lock, or similar locking device. The term “locked container” does not include the utility or glove compartment of a motor vehicle.
(B) “Locked toolbox or utility box” means a fully enclosed container that is permanently affixed to the bed of a pickup truck or vehicle that does not contain a trunk, and is locked by a padlock, keylock, combination lock, or other similar locking device.
(C) [peace officer; omitted]
(D) “Trunk” means the fully enclosed and locked main storage or luggage compartment of a vehicle that is not accessible from the passenger compartment. A trunk does not include the rear of a hatchback, station wagon, or sport utility vehicle, any compartment which has a window, or a toolbox or utility box attached to the bed of a pickup truck.
(E) “Vehicle” has the same meaning as specified in Section 670 of the Vehicle Code.
(2) For purposes of this section, a vehicle is unattended when a person who is lawfully carrying or transporting a handgun in a vehicle is not within close enough proximity to the vehicle to reasonably prevent unauthorized access to the vehicle or its contents.
(3) For purposes of this section, plain view includes any area of the vehicle that is visible by peering through the windows of the vehicle, including windows that are tinted, with or without illumination.
(e) [peace officer; omitted]
(f) This section does not supersede any local ordinance that regulates the storage of handguns in unattended vehicles if the ordinance was in effect before September 26, 2016.
16850. As used in this part, “locked container” means a secure container that is fully enclosed and locked by a padlock, keylock, combination lock, or similar locking device. The term “locked container” does not include the utility or glove compartment of a motor vehicle.
Note: trigger and cable locks along do not satisfy the locked container requirement in a vehicle