(a) A person shall not have in his or her possession or under his or her custody or control, or purchase or receive, or attempt to purchase or receive, any firearms whatsoever or any other deadly weapon, if on or after January 1, 1992, he or she has been admitted to a facility and is receiving inpatient treatment and, in the opinion of the attending health professional who is primarily responsible for the patient’s treatment of a mental disorder, is a danger to self or others, as specified by Section 5150, 5250, or 5300, even though the patient has consented to that treatment. A person is not subject to the prohibition in this subdivision after he or she is discharged from the facility.
(b) (1) A person shall not have in his or her possession or under his or her custody or control, or purchase or receive, or attempt to purchase or receive, any firearms whatsoever or any other deadly weapon for a period of five years if, on or after January 1, 2014, he or she communicates to a licensed psychotherapist, as defined in subdivisions (a) to (e), inclusive, of Section 1010 of the Evidence Code, a serious threat of physical violence against a reasonably identifiable victim or victims. The five-year period shall commence from the date that the licensed psychotherapist reports to the local law enforcement agency the identity of the person making the communication. The prohibition provided for in this subdivision shall not apply unless the licensed psychotherapist notifies a local law enforcement agency of the threat by that person. The person, however, may own, possess, have custody or control over, or receive or purchase any firearm if a superior court, pursuant to paragraph (3) and upon petition of the person, has found, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the person is likely to use firearms or other deadly weapons in a safe and lawful manner.
(2) Upon receipt of the report from the local law enforcement agency pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 8105, the Department of Justice shall notify by certified mail, return receipt requested, a person subject to this subdivision of the following:
(A) That he or she is prohibited from possessing, having custody or control over, receiving, or purchasing any firearm or other deadly weapon for a period of five years commencing from the date that the licensed psychotherapist reports to the local law enforcement agency the identity of the person making the communication. The notice shall state the date when the prohibition commences and ends.
(B) That he or she may petition a court, as provided in this subdivision, for an order permitting the person to own, possess, control, receive, or purchase a firearm.
(3) (A) Any person who is subject to paragraph (1) may petition the superior court of his or her county of residence for an order that he or she may own, possess, have custody or control over, receive, or purchase firearms. At the time the petition is filed, the clerk of the court shall set a hearing date and notify the person, the Department of Justice, and the district attorney. The people of the State of California shall be the respondent in the proceeding and shall be represented by the district attorney. Upon motion of the district attorney, or upon its own motion, the superior court may transfer the petition to the county in which the person resided at the time of the statements, or the county in which the person made the statements. Within seven days after receiving notice of the petition, the Department of Justice shall file copies of the reports described in Section 8105 with the superior court. The reports shall be disclosed upon request to the person and to the district attorney. The district attorney shall be entitled to a continuance of the hearing to a date of not less than 14 days after the district attorney is notified of the hearing date by the clerk of the court. The court, upon motion of the petitioner establishing that confidential information is likely to be discussed during the hearing that would cause harm to the person, shall conduct the hearing in camera with only the relevant parties present, unless the court finds that the public interest would be better served by conducting the hearing in public. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, declarations, police reports, including criminal history information, and any other material and relevant evidence that is not excluded under Section 352 of the Evidence Code, shall be admissible at the hearing under this paragraph.
(B) The people shall bear the burden of showing by a preponderance of the evidence that the person would not be likely to use firearms in a safe and lawful manner.
(C) If the court finds at the hearing that the people have not met their burden as set forth in subparagraph (B), the court shall order that the person shall not be subject to the five-year prohibition in this section on the ownership, control, receipt, possession, or purchase of firearms, and that person shall comply with the procedure described in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 33850) of Division 11 of Title 4 of Part 6 of the Penal Code for the return of any firearms. A copy of the order shall be submitted to the Department of Justice. Upon receipt of the order, the Department of Justice shall delete any reference to the prohibition against firearms from the person’s state mental health firearms prohibition system information.
(D) If the district attorney declines or fails to go forward in the hearing, the court shall order that the person shall not be subject to the five-year prohibition required by this subdivision on the ownership, control, receipt, possession, or purchase of firearms, and that person shall comply with the procedure described in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 33850) of Division 11 of Title 4 of Part 6 of the Penal Code for the return of any firearms. A copy of the order shall be submitted to the Department of Justice. Upon receipt of the order, the Department of Justice shall, within 15 days, delete any reference to the prohibition against firearms from the person’s state mental health firearms prohibition system information.
(E) Nothing in this subdivision shall prohibit the use of reports filed pursuant to this section to determine the eligibility of a person to own, possess, control, receive, or purchase a firearm if the person is the subject of a criminal investigation, a part of which involves the ownership, possession, control, receipt, or purchase of a firearm.
(c) “Discharge,” for the purposes of this section, does not include a leave of absence from a facility.
(d) “Attending health care professional,” as used in this section, means the licensed health care professional primarily responsible for the person’s treatment who is qualified to make the decision that the person has a mental disorder and has probable cause to believe that the person is a danger to self or others.
(e) “Deadly weapon,” as used in this section and in Sections 8101, 8102, and 8103, means any weapon, the possession or concealed carrying of which is prohibited by any provision listed in Section 16590 of the Penal Code.
(f) “Danger to self,” as used in subdivision (a), means a voluntary person who has made a serious threat of, or attempted, suicide with the use of a firearm or other deadly weapon.
(g) A violation of subdivision (a) of, or paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of, this section shall be a public offense, punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code, or in a county jail for not more than one year, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine.
(h) The prohibitions set forth in this section shall be in addition to those set forth in Section 8103.
(i) Any person admitted and receiving treatment prior to January 1, 1992, shall be governed by this section, as amended by Chapter 1090 of the Statutes of 1990, until discharged from the facility.
(Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 747, Sec. 1. (AB 1131) Effective January 1, 2014.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018