Firearm Relinquishment – MANDATORY Upon Certain Convictions – New Law

Effective January 1, 2018, California Penal Code section 29810 mandates that upon conviction of any offense that “renders a person subject to Section 29800 or 29805, the person shall relinquish all firearms he or she owns, possesses, or has under his or her custody or control in the manner provided in this Section.”

Offenses causing relinquishment of firearms under this section include certain enumerated felony and misdemeanor offenses. Some of these offenses include felony convictions for:[1]

• Penal Code section 245(a)(2) or (3) and Section 245(d)
• Penal Code section 246
• Penal Code section 417(c)

Also, a conviction of the following misdemeanor offenses may cause

relinquishment under this section:[2]

• Penal Code section 71
• Penal Code section 76
• Penal Code section 240
• Penal Code section 242
• Penal Code section 243
• Penal Code section 273.5
• Penal Code section 422

According to Section 29810(a)(2), upon conviction of a defendant for one of the enumerated qualifying offenses, the court must instruct the defendant that he or she is prohibited from owning, purchasing, receiving, possessing, or having under his or her custody or control, any firearms, ammunition, and ammunition feeding devices and must order the defendant to relinquish all firearms as the section instructs. At the time of conviction, the court must also provide the defendant with a Prohibited Persons Relinquishment Form. [3]

Using the Prohibited Persons Relinquishment Form, the defendant must name a third party designee and grant the designee power of attorney for purposes of transferring or disposing of any firearms. A defendant subject to this section must surrender the firearms to the control of a law enforcement agency, sell the firearms to a licensed firearms dealer, or transfer the firearms for storage to a dealer within a specified time period.

If a defendant fails to comply with this section, they will be subject to prosecution or unlawful possession of firearms.

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