jakemccoy said:
...That post above reiterates why going to a California-specific site is a wise thing to do for California gun laws. I read Post #17. It's kind of wrong. Also, that post didn't cite any law....
It provided substantially correct information in a concise and manageable manner.
The statutes specifically impose criminal liability if a person under the age of 18 years gains access to a firearm and either injury results or the minor takes the gun to a public place, or, in the case of a handgun, removes it from the premises. Specifically --
"...a person commits the crime of "criminal storage of a firearm of the first degree" if he or she keeps any loaded firearm within 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 death or great bodily injury to himself, herself, or any other person." (Penal Code 12035(b)(1))
"...a person commits the crime of "criminal storage of a firearm of the second degree" if he or she keeps any loaded firearm within 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."(Penal Code 12035(b)(2))
"A person who keeps a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, loaded or unloaded, within 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 that firearm without the permission of the child's parent or legal guardian and the child obtains access to that firearm and thereafter carries that firearm off-premises, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine."(Penal Code 12036(b))
"A person who keeps any firearm within any premises that is 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 thereafter carries that firearm off-premises 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, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine."(Penal Code 12036(c))
Note also, that under both 12035 and 12036, it shall be a defense if, among other things, the gun is kept in a locked container or in a location that a reasonable person would believe to be secure, or the firearm is locked with a locking device that has rendered the firearm inoperable.
And, of course, there is still the possible issue of civil liability if someone get your gun, hurts somebody, and a jury decides you were negligent in the manner in which you stored your gun.
There are a lot of details. But for general purposes it boils down to a need to take reasonable steps to prevent unauthorized access.
