California has some pretty strict liability laws when it comes to firearms and children. Perhaps education and enforcement of them would ease the judge's conscience.
From
http://www.firearmslawcenter.org/states/california.asp:
Under California Penal Code § 12035(b)(1), a person is liable for the crime of "criminal storage of a firearm of the first degree" if he or she keeps any loaded firearm:
[W]ithin any premises that are under his or her custody or control and he or she knows or reasonably should know that a child [defined as a person under age 18; see section 12035(a)(3)] 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 causes death or great bodily injury to himself, herself, or any other person.
Any person violating this provision is subject to a maximum of three years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Section 12035(d)(1).
Similarly, section 12035(b)(2) imposes liability for the crime of “criminal storage of a firearm of the second degree” upon any person who keeps any loaded firearm:
[W]ithin any premises that are under his or her custody or control and he or she 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 causes injury, other than great bodily injury, to himself, herself, or any other person, or carries the firearm either to a public place or in violation of section 417 [prohibiting the drawing or exhibiting of a firearm in a rude, angry, or threatening manner, or unlawfully using a firearm in a fight or quarrel].
Any person in violation of section 12035(b)(2) is subject to a misdemeanor.
California also provides that adults are subject to criminal liability when a child finds a loaded or unloaded handgun on premises owned or controlled by the adult, the adult knows or reasonably should know that a child is likely to gain access to that firearm without the permission of the child’s parent or legal guardian, and the child gains such access to the handgun and carries it off-premises. Section 12036(b). The penalties for violating this section consist of up to one year in a county jail and a fine of $1,000. Section 12035(d)(2). Where the child gains access to a firearm without appropriate permission and carries that firearm to any public or private preschool, elementary school, middle school, high school, or to any school-sponsored event, activity, or performance, whether occurring on school grounds or elsewhere, the adult on whose premises the firearm was found faces imprisonment in a county jail for up to one year, a fine not exceeding $5,000, or both the imprisonment and fine. Section 12036(c).
Sections 12035(b) and 12036(b), (c) do not apply when any of the following exceptions, outlined under sections 12035(c) or 12036(e), occur:
The child obtains the firearm as a result of an illegal entry into any premises by any person;
The firearm is kept in a locked container or in a location that a reasonable person would believe to be secure;
The firearm is carried on the person or within such a close proximity to the person that he or she can readily retrieve and use the firearm as if carried on the person;
The firearm is locked with a locking device that has rendered the firearm inoperable;
The person is a peace officer or a member of the armed forces or national guard and the child obtains the firearm during, or incidental to, the performance of the person's duties;
The child obtains, or obtains and discharges, the firearm in a lawful act of self-defense or defense of another person, or persons; or
The person who keeps a firearm on any premise which is under his or her custody or control has no reasonable expectation, based on objective facts and circumstances, that a child is likely to be present on the premises.
Sections 12035(e) and 12036(f) provide that “
t is the Legislature’s intent that a parent or guardian of a child who is injured or who dies as the result of an accidental shooting shall be prosecuted only in those instances in which the parent or guardian behaved in a grossly negligent manner or where similarly egregious circumstances exist.” In such cases, no arrest shall occur until at least seven days after the accidental shooting, and law enforcement officials are encouraged “to delay the arrest of a parent or guardian of a seriously injured child while the child remains on life-support equipment or is in a similarly critical medical condition.” Section 12035(f), 12036(g).
California law requires firearms dealers to conspicuously post on their premises warnings regarding criminal penalties for firearms owners who do not store or secure their firearms in a manner that keeps minors from possessing and using the weapons. Sections 12071(b)(7)(A)-(C), 12088.3. See the California Dealer Regulations section for a discussion of firearm ownership warnings.
In addition, California Civil Code section 1714.3 states that:
Civil liability for any injury to the person or property of another proximately caused by the discharge of a firearm by a minor under the age of 18 years shall be imputed to a parent or guardian having custody and control of the minor for all purposes of civil damages, and such parent or guardian shall be jointly and severally liable with such minor for any damages resulting from such act, if such parent or guardian either permitted the minor to have the firearm or left the firearm in a place accessible to the minor.
The liability imposed by this section is in addition to any liability otherwise imposed by law. However, no person, or group of persons collectively, shall incur liability under this section in any amount exceeding thirty thousand dollars ($ 30,000) for injury to or death of one person as a result of any one occurrence or, subject to the limit as to one person, exceeding sixty thousand dollars ($ 60,000) for injury to or death of all persons as a result of any one such occurrence.
