It is a misdemeanor for a CA resident to have a concealed or loaded handgun in a vehicle on a first offense. This is the first I heard of it being elevated to felony if the person is a non-resident.
It is a misdemeanor the first time only if the firearm is registered to that person in the CA DOJ database. Anyone who purchases a handgun or goes through an ffl (required to transfer in CA) in CA automaticly has the firearm purchased or transfered registered to them. However someone that is visiting from another state, or even a CA resident that moved from another state and never submitted the paperwork and fees to "import a handgun" for each handgun is not registered. That makes being caught with it a felony.
Here is the relevant part of section 12025 in the penal code for non DOJ registered firearms:
(6) By imprisonment in the state prison (
felony), or by imprisonment in a
county jail not to exceed one year, by a fine not to exceed one
thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment if
both of the following conditions are met:
(A) Both the pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being
concealed upon the person and the unexpended ammunition capable of
being discharged from that firearm are either in the immediate
possession of the person or readily accessible to that person, or the
pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon
the person is loaded as defined in subdivision (g) of Section 12031.
(B) The person is not listed with the Department of Justice
pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 11106, as the
registered owner of that pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable
of being concealed upon the person.
11106. '(a) In order to assist in the investigation of crime, the
prosecution of civil actions by city attorneys pursuant to paragraph
(3) of subdivision (c), the arrest and prosecution of criminals, and
the recovery of lost, stolen, or found property, the Attorney General
shall keep and properly file a complete record of all copies of
fingerprints, copies of licenses to carry firearms issued pursuant to
Section 12050, information reported to the Department of Justice
pursuant to Section 12053, dealers' records of sales of firearms,
reports provided pursuant to Section 12072 or 12078, forms provided
pursuant to Section 12084, as that section read prior to being
repealed by the act that amended this section, reports provided
pursuant to Section 12071 that are not dealers' records of sales of
firearms, and reports of stolen, lost, found, pledged, or pawned
property in any city or county of this state, and shall, upon proper
application therefor, furnish this information to the officers
referred to in Section 11105.
(b) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (d), the Attorney
General shall not retain or compile any information from reports
filed pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 12078 for firearms that
are not handguns, from forms submitted pursuant to Section 12084, as
that section read prior to being repealed by the act that amended
this section, for firearms that are not handguns, or from dealers'
records of sales for firearms that are not handguns. All copies of
the forms submitted, or any information received in electronic form,
pursuant to Section 12084, as that section read prior to being
repealed by the act that amended this section, for firearms that are
not handguns, or of the dealers' records of sales for firearms that
are not handguns shall be destroyed within five days of the clearance
by the Attorney General, unless the purchaser or transferor is
ineligible to take possession of the firearm. All copies of the
reports filed, or any information received in electronic form,
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 12078 for firearms that are
not handguns shall be destroyed within five days of the receipt by
the Attorney General, unless retention is necessary for use in a
criminal prosecution.
(2) A peace officer, the Attorney General, a Department of Justice
employee designated by the Attorney General, or any authorized local
law enforcement employee shall not retain or compile any information
from a firearms transaction record, as defined in paragraph (5) of
subdivision (c) of Section 12071, for firearms that are not handguns
unless retention or compilation is necessary for use in a criminal
prosecution or in a proceeding to revoke a license issued pursuant to
Section 12071.
(3) A violation of this subdivision is a misdemeanor.
(c) (1) The Attorney General shall permanently keep and properly
file and maintain all information reported to the Department of
Justice pursuant to Sections 12071, 12072, 12078, 12082, and former
Section 12084 or any other law, as to handguns and maintain a
registry thereof.
(2) The registry shall consist of all of the following:
(A) The name, address, identification of, place of birth (state or
country), complete telephone number, occupation, sex, description,
and all legal names and aliases ever used by the owner or person
being loaned the particular handgun as listed on the information
provided to the department on the Dealers' Record of Sale, the Law
Enforcement Firearms Transfer (LEFT), as defined in former Section
12084, or reports made to the department pursuant to Section 12078 or
any other law.
(B) The name and address of, and other information about, any
person (whether a dealer or a private party) from whom the owner
acquired or the person being loaned the particular handgun and when
the firearm was acquired or loaned as listed on the information
provided to the department on the Dealers' Record of Sale, the LEFT,
or reports made to the department pursuant to Section 12078 or any
other law.
(C) Any waiting period exemption applicable to the transaction
which resulted in the owner of or the person being loaned the
particular handgun acquiring or being loaned that firearm.
(D) The manufacturer's name if stamped on the firearm, model name
or number if stamped on the firearm, and, if applicable, the serial
number, other number (if more than one serial number is stamped on
the firearm), caliber, type of firearm, if the firearm is new or
used, barrel length, and color of the firearm.
(3) Information in the registry referred to in this subdivision
shall, upon proper application therefor, be furnished to the officers
referred to in Section 11105, to a city attorney prosecuting a civil
action, solely for use in prosecuting that civil action and not for
any other purpose, or to the person listed in the registry as the
owner or person who is listed as being loaned the particular handgun.
(4) If any person is listed in the registry as the owner of a
firearm through a Dealers' Record of Sale prior to 1979, and the
person listed in the registry requests by letter that the Attorney
General store and keep the record electronically, as well as in the
record's existing photographic, photostatic, or nonerasable optically
stored form, the Attorney General shall do so within three working
days of receipt of the request. The Attorney General shall, in
writing, and as soon as practicable, notify the person requesting
electronic storage of the record that the request has been honored as
required by this paragraph.
(d) (1) Any officer referred to in paragraphs (1) to (6),
inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 11105 may disseminate the
name of the subject of the record, the number of the firearms listed
in the record, and the description of any firearm, including the
make, model, and caliber, from the record relating to any firearm's
sale, transfer, registration, or license record, or any information
reported to the Department of Justice pursuant to Section 12021.3,
12053, 12071, 12072, 12077, 12078, 12082, or 12285, if the following
conditions are met:
(A) The subject of the record has been arraigned for a crime in
which the victim is a person described in subdivisions (a) to (f),
inclusive, of Section 6211 of the Family Code and is being prosecuted
or is serving a sentence for the crime, or the subject of the record
is the subject of an emergency protective order, a temporary
restraining order, or an order after hearing, which is in effect and
has been issued by a family court under the Domestic Violence
Protection Act set forth in Division 10 (commencing with Section
6200) of the Family Code.
(B) The information is disseminated only to the victim of the
crime or to the person who has obtained the emergency protective
order, the temporary restraining order, or the order after hearing
issued by the family court.
(C) Whenever a law enforcement officer disseminates the
information authorized by this subdivision, that officer or another
officer assigned to the case shall immediately provide the victim of
the crime with a "Victims of Domestic Violence" card, as specified in
subparagraph (H) of paragraph (9) of subdivision (c) of Section
13701.
(2) The victim or person to whom information is disseminated
pursuant to this subdivision may disclose it as he or she deems
necessary to protect himself or herself or another person from bodily
harm by the person who is the subject of the record.'
So yes someone out of state visiting with:
"Both the pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person and the unexpended ammunition capable ofbeing discharged from that firearm are either in the immediate possession of the person or readily accessible to that person, or the
pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon
the person is loaded as defined in subdivision (g) of Section 12031."
Will not be registered persuant to 11106 and is guilty of a felony offense even on the first offense even with no other charges, unless of course they purchased that pistol in CA or were a prior resisdent of CA when that pistol was registered persuant to 11106.
