A CCW permit applicant should be aware of the following California penal codes and Federal prohibitions, as they have a direct bearing on a permit holder’s use, carrying, and storage of a firearm. Note that laws pertaining to CCW’s and firearms in general are constantly changing so the below statutes should be checked to confirm they are contemporary.

I.          Penal Code Section 12051 – Applications for CCW Licenses; False Statements

(b) Any person who files an application required by subdivision (a) knowing that the statements contained therein are false is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(c) Any person who knowingly makes a false statement on the application regarding any of the following shall be guilty of a felony:

1.       The denial or revocation of a license, or the denial of an amendment to a license, issued pursuant to section 12050.

2.       A criminal conviction.

3.       A finding of not guilty by reason of insanity.

4.       The use of a controlled substance.

5.       A dishonorable discharge from military service.

6.       A commitment to a mental institution.

7.       A renunciation of United States citizenship.

II.         Penal Code Section 192 – Manslaughter

Manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice.

(a)     Voluntary – upon a sudden quarrel or heat of passion.

(b)     Involuntary – in the commission of an unlawful act, not amounting to a felony; or in the commission of a lawful act which might produce death, in an unlawful manner, or without due caution and circumspection; provided that this subdivision shall not apply to acts committed in the driving of a vehicle.

Violation of either of the above is a felony (Penal Code 193).

III.        Penal Code Section 197 – Justifiable Homicide; Any Person

Homicide is justifiable when committed by any person in any of the following cases:

1.       When resisting any attempt to murder any person, or to commit a felony, or to do some great bodily injury upon any person; or,

2.       When committed in defense of habitation, property, or person, against one who manifestly intends or endeavors, by violence or surprise, to commit a felony, or against one who manifestly intends and endeavors, in a violent, riotous or tumultuous manner, to enter the habitation of another for the purpose of offering violence to any person therein; or,

3.       When committed in lawful defense of such person, or of a wife or husband, parent, child, master, mistress, or servant of such person, when there is reasonable ground to apprehend a design to commit a felony or to do some great bodily injury, and imminent danger of such design being accomplished; but such person, or the person in whose behalf the defense was made, if he was the assailant or engaged in a mutual combat, must really and in good faith have endeavored to decline any further struggle before the homicide was committed; or,

4.       When necessarily committed in attempting, by lawful ways and means, to apprehend any person for any felony committed, or in lawfully suppressing any riot, or in lawfully keeping and preserving the peace.

IV.        Penal Code Section 198 – Justifiable Homicide; Sufficiency of Fear

(Limitation of Self-defense of Property Rule)

A bare fear of the commission of any of the offenses mentioned in subdivisions 2 and 3 of Section 197, to prevent which lawful homicide may be committed, is not sufficient to justify it.  But the circumstances must be sufficient to excite the fears of a reasonable person, and the party killing must have acted under the influence of such fears alone.

V.         Penal Code Section 199 – Justifiable and Excusable Homicide; Discharge of Defendant

The homicide appearing to be justifiable or excusable, the person indicted must, upon his trial, be fully acquitted and discharged.

VI.        Penal Code Section 12035 – Storage of Firearms Accessible to Children

 (a) As used in this section, the following definitions apply:

   (1) "Locking device" means a device that is designed to prevent the firearm from functioning and when applied to the firearm, renders the firearm inoperable.

   (2) "Loaded firearm" has the same meaning as set forth in subdivision (g) of Section 12031.

   (3) "Child" means a person under 18 years of age.

   (4) "Great bodily injury" has the same meaning as set forth in Section 12022.7.

   (5) "Locked container" has the same meaning as set forth in subdivision (d) of Section 12026.2.

(b) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (c), 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.

     (2) Except as provided in subdivision (c), 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.

(c) Subdivision (b) shall not apply whenever any of the following occurs:

   (1) The child obtains the firearm as a result of an illegal entry to any premises by any person.

   (2) The firearm is kept in a locked container or in a location that a reasonable person would believe to be secure.

   (3) The firearm is carried on the person or within such a close proximity thereto that the individual can readily retrieve and use the firearm as if carried on the person.

   (4) The firearm is locked with a locking device that has rendered the firearm inoperable.

   (5) 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.

   (6) The child obtains, or obtains and discharges, the firearm in a lawful act of self-defense or defense of another person, or persons.

   (7) The person who keeps a loaded firearm on any premise that 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.

VII.       Penal Code Section 12036 – Firearms Accessed by Children and Carried Off-premises

(a) As used in this section, the following definitions shall apply:

   (1) "Locking device" means a device that is designed to prevent the firearm from functioning and when applied to the firearm, renders the firearm inoperable.

   (2) "Child" means a person under the age of 18 years.

   (3) "Off-premises" means premises other than the premises where the firearm was stored.

   (4) "Locked container" has the same meaning as set forth in subdivision (d) of Section 12026.2.

(b) 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.

(c) 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.

(d) A pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person that a child gains access to and carries off-premises in violation of this section shall be deemed "used in the commission of any misdemeanor as provided in this code or any felony" for the purpose of subdivision (b) of Section 12028 regarding the authority to confiscate firearms and other deadly weapons as a nuisance.

(e) This section shall not apply if any one of the following circumstances exists:

   (1) The child obtains the pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person as a result of an illegal entry into any premises by any person.

   (2) The pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person is kept in a locked container or in a location that a reasonable person would believe to be secure.

   (3) The pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person is locked with a locking device that has rendered the firearm inoperable.

   (4) The pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon a person is carried on the person within such a close range that the individual can readily retrieve and use the firearm as if carried on the person.

   (5) The person is a peace officer or a member of the Armed Forces or National Guard and the child obtains the pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person during, or incidental to, the performance of the person's duties.

   (6) The child obtains, or obtains and discharges, the pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person in a lawful act of self-defense or defense of another person or persons.

   (7) The person who keeps a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person has no reasonable expectation, based on objective facts and circumstances, that a child is likely to be present on the premises.

VIII.      California Prohibiting Categories for a CCW License

• Persons convicted of a felony, or any offense enumerated in section 12021.1 of the Penal Code (PC).

• Persons addicted to the use of narcotics.

• Persons denied firearm possession as a condition of probation pursuant to PC section 12021(d).

• Persons convicted of a specified misdemeanor pursuant to PC section 12021(c)(1) are prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms for 10 years.

• Juveniles adjudged wards of the juvenile court because they committed a 707(b) Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) offense, an offense described in PC section 1203.073(b) or any offense enumerated in PC section 12021 (c)(1) are prohibited until they reach age 30.

• Persons who are subject to a protective order as defined in section 6218 of the Family Code, or a temporary restraining order or injunction issued pursuant to sections 527.6 or 527.8 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

• Persons found by a court to be a danger to others because of mental illness.

• Persons found by a court to be mentally incompetent to stand trial.

• Persons found by a court to be not guilty by reason of insanity.

• Persons adjudicated to be a mentally disordered sex offender.

• Persons placed on a conservatorship because they are gravely disabled as a result of a mental disorder or impairment by chronic alcoholism

• Persons who communicate a threat to a licensed psychotherapist, against a reasonably identifiable victim, and the psychotherapist reports to law enforcement pursuant to WIC section 8100(b), are prohibited from purchasing or possessing a firearm for 6 months.

• Persons in a mental health facility certified pursuant to WIC sections 5250, 5260, and 5270.15 are prohibited from possessing or purchasing or attempting to purchase firearms for 5 years.

• Persons who are voluntary patients in a mental facility who are determined to be a danger to self or others are prohibited from purchasing or possessing a firearm between admission and discharge.

• Persons under indictment or information in any court for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.

IX.        California Prohibiting Misdemeanors

Pursuant to Penal Code (PC) section 12021(c)(1), any person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor violation for any of the following offenses is prohibited from owning, possessing, or having under his or her custody or control any firearms within 10 years of the conviction:

• Threatening public officers, employees and school officials (PC section 71).

• Threatening certain public officials, appointees, judges, staff or their families with the intent and apparent ability to carry out the threat (PC section 76).

• Possessing a deadly weapon with the intent to intimidate a witness (PC section 136.5).

• Threatening witnesses, victims, or informants (PC section 140).

• Attempting to remove or take a firearm from the person or immediate presence of a public or peace officer (PC section 148(d)).

• Unauthorized possession of a weapon in a courtroom, courthouse or court building, or at a public meeting (PC section 171(b)).

• Bringing into or possessing a loaded firearm within the state capitol, legislative offices, etc. (PC section 171c).

• Taking into or possessing loaded firearms within the Governor’s Mansion or residence of other constitutional officers, etc. (PC section 171(d)).

• Supplying, selling or giving possession of a firearm to a person for participation in criminal street gangs (PC section 186.28).

• Assault (PC sections 240, 241)

• Battery (PC sections 242, 243).

• Assault with a stun gun or Taber weapon (PC section 244.5)

• Assault with deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily injury (PC section 245).

• Assault with a deadly weapon or instrument, by any means likely to produce great bodily injury or with a stun gun or Taber on a school employee engaged in performance of duties (PC section 245.5).

• Shooting at an inhabited or occupied dwelling house, building, vehicle, aircraft, horsecart or camper (PC section 246).

• Discharging a firearm in a grossly negligent manner (PC section 246.3)

• Shooting at an unoccupied aircraft, motor vehicle, or uninhabited building or dwelling house (PC section 247)

• Inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or significant other (PC section 273.5)

• Willfully violating a domestic protective order (PC section 273.6).

• Drawing, exhibiting, or using any deadly weapon other than a firearm (PC sections 417(a)(1), 417(a)(2)).

• Brandishing a firearm in presence of a peace officer (PC section 417.1 – repealed by stats. 1998).

• Drawing or exhibiting, selling, manufacturing, or distributing firearm replicas or imitations (PC section 417.2).

• Inflicting serious bodily injury as a result of brandishing (PC section 417.6).

• Bringing into or possessing firearms upon or within public schools and grounds (PC section 626.9).

• Stalking (PC section 646.9).

• Armed criminal action (PC section 12023).

• Possessing a deadly weapon with intent to commit an assault (PC section 12024).

• Driver or any vehicle who knowingly permits another person to discharge a firearm from the vehicle or any person who will fully and maliciously discharges a firearm from a motor vehicle (PC sections 12034(b), 12034(d)).

• Criminal possession of a firearm (PC section 12040).

• Firearms dealer who sells or transfers or gives possession of any firearm to a minor or a handgun to a person under the age of 21 (PC section 12072(b)).

• Various violations involving sales and transfers of firearms (PC section 12072(g)(3)).

• Person or corporation who sells any concealable firearm to any minor (PC section 12100(a) – repealed by stats. 1994).

• Unauthorized possession/transportation of a machine gun (PC section 12220).

• Possession of ammunition designed to penetrate metal or armor (PC section 12320).

• Carrying a concealed or loaded firearm or other deadly weapon or wearing a peace officer uniform, while picketing (PC section 12590).

• Bringing firearm related contraband into juvenile hall (WIC section 871.5).

• Bringing firearm related contraband into a youth authority institution (WIC section 1001.5).

• Purchase, possession, or receipt of a firearm or deadly weapon by a person receiving in-patient treatment for a mental disorder, or by a person who has communicated to a licensed psychotherapist a serious threat of physical violence against an identifiable victim (WIC section 8100).

• Providing a firearm or deadly weapon to a person described in WIC sections 8100 or 8103 (WIC section 8101).

• Purchase, possession, or receipt of a firearm or deadly weapon by a person who has been adjudicated to be a mentally disordered sex offender or found to be mentally incompetent to stand trial, or not guilty by reason of insanity, and individuals placed under a conservatorship (WIC section 8103).

X.         Federal Prohibiting Categories for Possessing Firearms Gun Control Act of 1968, Title 18 U.S.C. Chapter 44

Pursuant to Section 922, any person listed below is prohibited from possessing, shipping, transporting, or receiving any firearm, who:

• Has been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.

• Is a fugitive from justice.

• Is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance.

• Has been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution.

• Is an alien illegally or unlawfully in the United States.

• Has been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions.

• Having been a citizen of the United States, has renounced U.S. citizenship.

• Is subject to a court order that restrains the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of such intimate partner.

• Has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

• Is under indictment for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.

• Has an out-of-state prohibitive criminal history.

• Has a prior denial on a previous National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) inquiry.

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