Most people know a felony conviction means no firearms. Fewer people know the prohibition extends to ammunition as well. Under Penal Code 30305, it is a separate felony offense for a prohibited person to own, possess, or have under their custody or control any ammunition, even without a firearm present.
This charge comes up regularly in San Bernardino County. Sometimes it accompanies a PC 29800 felon in possession count. Sometimes it is the only charge, filed after law enforcement finds bullets or cartridges in a location connected to the defendant but no gun turns up. Either way, we treat it as a serious matter from the first call. Our work as a criminal defense lawyer in San Bernardino covers how these charges fit into the broader category of California firearm offenses.
Who the Law Classifies as a Prohibited Person
The prohibited persons category under California law is broader than most people expect. Anyone with a felony conviction in California, any other state, or under federal law falls into it. So does anyone convicted of certain misdemeanors: domestic violence offenses under PC 273.5 and PC 243(e)(1) trigger both a California prohibition and a federal one under the Lautenberg Amendment. People subject to active firearms-prohibiting restraining orders are included. So are individuals adjudicated as a danger to themselves or others through a mental health proceeding under Welfare and Institutions Code 8103.
The domestic violence overlap surprises many defendants. A misdemeanor domestic battery plea from years ago, followed by completed probation and even an expungement, still leaves the person prohibited under both California and federal law in most cases. We see this scenario in San Bernardino County when someone faces a new PC 30305 charge and genuinely does not understand that the old conviction never stopped limiting their rights.
What the Prosecution Must Prove
Three elements must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt: the defendant was a prohibited person at the time of the alleged possession, they possessed ammunition, and they knew they possessed it. Possession can be actual, meaning ammunition physically on their person, or constructive, meaning in a location they had access to, knew about, and had some ability to control.
The constructive possession element is where most of the factual disputes live. Ammunition found in a shared garage, a closet in a rented room, a storage locker used by multiple people, or a vehicle that multiple people drove raises real questions about whether this particular defendant knew it was there and whether they had any meaningful control over it. The prosecution's evidence in these cases usually rests on the defendant's connection to the location, any statements made after the arrest, and whether fingerprints or other physical evidence ties the defendant specifically to the ammunition or its packaging.
The Penalties and How They Stack
A PC 30305 conviction is a felony carrying 16 months, two years, or three years in California state prison as a base term. Prior convictions and aggravating factors push the exposure higher. This conviction also adds a new felony on top of whatever prior conviction created the prohibited status in the first place, which has ongoing sentencing consequences for any future charges under California's recidivist frameworks.
When PC 30305 is charged alongside firearm charges under PC 29800, both counts can be prosecuted separately and sentences can run consecutively. A defendant facing both charges is looking at potentially double the base sentencing exposure at minimum. We evaluate the full charge picture at the start of representation, not after the prosecution has had time to build the case around stacked counts.
How We Approach the Defense
Challenging whether the defendant actually knew the ammunition was present is the most common and often the strongest defense. If the prosecution's evidence of knowledge amounts to proximity alone, that may not satisfy the knowing element without additional connecting evidence.
The other major area is how law enforcement found the ammunition. If it was discovered during a traffic stop, we review whether the stop was lawful and whether the vehicle search violated the Fourth Amendment. If found during a residential search, we examine the warrant for accuracy and whether the search stayed within the authorized scope. Evidence obtained through an unlawful search is suppressible. Without the physical ammunition, the prosecution's case typically cannot move forward. In our criminal defense work across San Bernardino, Rialto, Colton, Fontana, and the broader areas we serve, Fourth Amendment challenges succeed in possession cases more often than most defendants realize when they first contact us.
Post-Conviction Relief and the Prohibited Status
A PC 30305 conviction is a felony, stacked on a record that already has the prior conviction responsible for the prohibited status. For clients looking at post-conviction relief after a PC 30305 case, expungement under PC 1203.4 may be available after probation is completed, for cases where probation was imposed rather than prison. That expungement clears the conviction for most employment background check purposes, which is where the consequences of a criminal record usually show up first. It does not by itself eliminate the underlying prohibited person status.
For clients whose original prohibiting conviction may be eligible for relief through a wobbler reduction, resentencing under AB 600, or a Racial Justice Act petition, we look at the full chain of convictions and what relief on the underlying offense would mean for the prohibited status going forward. Tammy Higgins spent 16 years as a San Bernardino County public defender and has tried more than 100 jury trials, including serious felony cases where ammunition and firearms charges appeared alongside more significant counts. That experience shapes how we approach the defense and how we identify every viable post-conviction option when the case concludes.
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