California has some of the most restrictive firearm carry laws in the country, and the cases we handle as a San Bernardino criminal defense attorney make one thing clear: a significant number of people get arrested not because they intended to do something illegal, but because they did not fully understand where the lines were. The rules differ depending on whether the firearm is loaded, whether it is concealed or visible, whether you are in a vehicle or on foot, and whether you hold a valid permit or fall into a prohibited category. Getting any one of those factors wrong can result in a felony charge.
Knowing the rules does not just protect you from a charge. If you are already facing one, understanding exactly what the law requires is the starting point for building a defense.
Concealed Carry and What the Law Actually Requires
Carrying a concealed firearm in California without a valid permit is a gun crime under Penal Code 25400. The statute applies to firearms hidden on your person and firearms hidden inside a vehicle. A loaded concealed firearm carried by someone with a prior firearm conviction is charged as a felony. For a first offense without prior convictions, it is generally a misdemeanor, though it becomes a felony immediately when the carrier is a prohibited person.
A Concealed Carry Weapon permit under PC 26150 authorizes a person to carry a concealed firearm in California. These permits are issued by county sheriffs or police chiefs and require a background check, firearms safety training, and a showing of eligibility. The legal requirements around permits have shifted following federal court decisions affecting California's prior "good cause" standard, and the permit landscape is in a period of ongoing legal adjustment. One thing remains constant: a valid CCW permit does not authorize carry everywhere. There are specific locations where even permit holders cannot carry, and violating those restrictions still results in criminal charges.
Open Carry in California
Open carry of a loaded firearm in a public place is prohibited under PC 25850. The prohibition applies in incorporated cities and across most public spaces statewide. Open carry of an unloaded handgun in public is separately prohibited under PC 26350. For practical purposes, this means that visibly carrying a firearm in California, loaded or unloaded, in most public settings is illegal without a specific exemption.
Recognized exemptions exist for activities like hunting on authorized land, target shooting at a licensed range, and transporting a firearm that is unloaded and secured in a locked container. The transport exemption is where many people run into trouble. The firearm must be unloaded. It must be in a locked container. The container cannot be the glove compartment or console of the vehicle. Law enforcement in San Bernardino County regularly charges people who believed their transport situation qualified under one of these exemptions when it did not fully meet the technical legal requirements.
Locations Where Carry Is Prohibited Even With a Permit
California designates specific locations as prohibited carry zones where the restriction applies regardless of whether you have a valid CCW permit. Schools and the area within 1,000 feet of a K-12 school are covered by PC 626.9, the Gun-Free School Zone Act. Government buildings, courthouses, public transit facilities, hospitals, and polling places during elections are also covered.
The school zone issue comes up regularly in San Bernardino County. PC 626.9 applies to a 1,000-foot radius around any K-12 school, and a violation can be a felony for someone who lacks a valid California-issued permit for that specific location. We have handled cases in Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Redlands, Highland, and other cities across the county where defendants were genuinely unaware that the area where they were carrying was within a school zone. The law does not require the person to know they were in the zone. The charge attaches regardless.
Who California Classifies as a Prohibited Person
A prohibited person in California cannot possess or carry a firearm under any circumstances, permit or no permit. The category includes anyone with a felony conviction under California law, the laws of any other state, or federal law. It also includes people convicted of certain misdemeanors, specifically domestic violence offenses under PC 273.5 and PC 243(e)(1), people subject to active firearms-prohibiting restraining orders, and individuals adjudicated as a danger to themselves or others through a mental health proceeding.
The question of owning a gun after a domestic violence conviction catches a lot of people by surprise. A misdemeanor domestic violence conviction triggers both a California prohibition and a federal lifetime prohibition under the Lautenberg Amendment. Someone who pled to a domestic battery charge years ago, completed probation, and even received an expungement may still be fully prohibited under both state and federal law. In San Bernardino County courts, we see defendants discover this consequence for the first time when they are facing a new firearms charge and realize the prior conviction they had long put behind them is still limiting their rights.
Penalties and the Path Forward After a Conviction
Penalties range depending on the specific violation. Felon in possession under PC 29800 carries 16 months, two years, or three years in state prison as a base term. Firearm enhancements under PC 12022.5 or PC 12022.53 can add years to that base term when a firearm was used during a separate offense. A school zone violation under PC 626.9 for a person without an appropriate permit is a felony with its own sentencing range.
Tammy Higgins spent 16 years as a San Bernardino County public defender before opening this firm, and she has tried more than 100 jury trials, including serious felony cases where firearms charges played a central role. For clients who have already been convicted and want to understand what their rights look like going forward, we handle those questions through our post-conviction practice. Options depending on the specific conviction may include expungement under PC 1203.4, a wobbler reduction to a misdemeanor under PC 17(b), or longer-term relief through a Certificate of Rehabilitation. For clients serving sentences that are no longer proportional under current law, resentencing under AB 600 may also be worth examining.
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