| In general, before a person can be convicted of possessing a deadly weapon, the prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person either intentionally carried the weapon or had knowledge that the weapon was in his or her possession. If a defendant is not aware that he or she is in possession of the weapon, then that defendant is entitled to an acquittal. If the defendant accidentally or negligently is in possession of the weapon, this is not enough. Each individual defendant must have had actual knowledge of the weapons presence. Even if the weapon is "per se" illegal, and the defendant purchased this illegal weapon. The prosecution must prove that the defendant was aware that he or she had the weapon at the time the police found it. Penal Code 12001.1 provides that any person who commercially manufactures or who knowingly imports into the state for sale, keeps for sale, or offers or exposes for sale, any undetectable knife is guilty of a misdemeanor. An "undetectable knife" means any knife or other instrument with or without a hand guard that is capable of ready use as a stabbing weapon that may inflict great bodily injury or death that is commercially manufactured to be used as a weapon and is not detectable by a metal detector or magnetometer. Penal Code 12001.5 provides that no person may manufacture, import into the state, keep for sale, offer for sale, give, lend, or possess any short-barreled shotgun or short-barreled rifle. A "short-barreled shotgun" means any of the following: (1) a firearm which is designed or redesigned to fire a fixed shotgun shell and having a barrel or barrels of less than 18 inches in length; (2) A firearm which has an overall length of less than 26 inches and which is designed or redesigned to fire a fixed shotgun shell; (3) Any weapon made from a shotgun by altercation; and (4) Any device which may be readily restored to fire a fixed shotgun shell. A "short-barreled rifle" means any of the following: (1) a rifle having a barrel or barrels of less than 16 inches in length; (2) a rifle having an overall length of less than 26 inches; (3) Any device which may be readily restored to fire a fixed cartridge when so restored is less than 26 inches in length or has less than a 16 inch barrel; (4) Any part or combination of parts which may create what was just described. Penal Code 12020(a) provides a list of weapons that no person shall ever be able to manufacture, import into the state, keep for sale, offer for sale, give, lend, or possess. The prosecution has the choice to charge someone under this section with a felony or a misdemeanor. The list of illegal deadly weapons includes: any cane gun or wallet gun, any undetectable firearm, any firearm which is not immediately recognizable as a firearm, any camouflaging firearm container, any ammunition which contains or consists of any flechette dart, any bullet containing or carrying an explosive agent, any ballistic knife, any multi-burst trigger activator, any nunchaku, any short-barrelled shotgun, any short-barrelled rifle, any metal knuckles, any belt buckle knife, any leaded cane, any zip gun, any shuriken, any unconventional piston, any lipstick case knife, any cane sword, any shobi-zue, any air gauge knife, any writing pen knife, any metal military practice hand grenade or metal replica hand grenade, or any instrument or weapon of the kind commonly known as a blackjack, slungshot, billy, sandclub, sap, or sandbag. Penal Code 12021 states that any person who has been convicted of a felony assault or a felony for drawing a firearm, or who is addicted to the use of any narcotic drug, who owns, purchases, receives, or has in his or her possession or under his or her custody or control any firearm is guilty of a felony. Further, Penal Code 12021.1 states that any person who has been previously convicted of any of the following offenses and who owns or has in his or her possession or under his or her custody or control any firearm is guilty of a felony: Murder or voluntary manslaughter; mayhem; rape; sodomy by force, violence, duress, menace, or threat of bodily harm; oral copulation by force, violence, duress, menace or threat of bodily harm; lewd acts on a child under the age of 14; any felony punishable by death or imprisonment for life; any felony in which the defendant inflicts great bodily injury on another person; attempted murder; assault with the intent to commit rape or robbery; assault with a deadly instrument on a peace officer; assault by a life prisoner on a non-inmate; assault with a deadly weapon on an inmate; arson; exploding a destructive device or any explosive with intent to injure; exploding a destructive device with intent to murder; robbery; kidnapping; taking of a hostage by an inmate of prison; attempt to commit a felony punishable by death or life in prison; any felony in which the defendant personally used a deadly weapon; escape from prison by force or violence; assault with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily injury; carjacking. |
| DANGEROUS WEAPONS |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| UNDETECTABLE KNIVES |
| SHORT-BARRELED SHOTGUNS AND RIFLES |
| ILLEGAL DEADLY WEAPONS: |
| FELON IN POSSESSION OF A FIREARM |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| (858) 444-5256 |
| LAW OFFICES OF BRIAN R. MASON |
A CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAW FIRM |
**BY CLICKING SUBMIT
YOU ARE NOT CREATING
AN ATTORNEY-CLIENT
RELATIONSHIP WITH THIS
OFFICE. FURTHER, THERE
IS NO GUARANTEE THAT
THIS OFFICE WILL TAKE
YOUR CASE
YOU ARE NOT CREATING
AN ATTORNEY-CLIENT
RELATIONSHIP WITH THIS
OFFICE. FURTHER, THERE
IS NO GUARANTEE THAT
THIS OFFICE WILL TAKE
YOUR CASE