Firearms: prohibited persons.

(1) Existing law, subject to exceptions, provides that any person who has been convicted of certain misdemeanors may not, within 10 years of the conviction, own, purchase, receive, possess, or have under his or her custody or control, any firearm. Under existing law, a violation of this prohibition is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison, by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or by both that imprisonment and fine. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor or a felony for a person who is prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm pursuant to these provisions to own, possess, or have under custody or control, any ammunition or reloaded ammunition. This bill would add to the list of misdemeanors, the conviction for which is subject to those prohibitions, misdemeanor offenses of violating the 10-year prohibition on possessing a firearm specified above. The bill would also apply the above 10-year prohibition to a person who has been convicted of 2 or more specified misdemeanors, or 2 or more convictions of a single specified misdemeanor, in a 3-year period involving intoxication or possession of certain controlled substances for sale and would make a violation punishable as an infraction. The bill would impose a new 10-year prohibition to a person who commits another of those misdemeanors during the initial 10-year prohibition period, and would make a violation punishable as an infraction. The bill would also make it an infraction for a person prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm pursuant to these provisions to own, possess, or have under his or her custody or control, any ammunition or reloaded ammunition. By changing the definition of a crime, and by creating new crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law prohibits certain specified individuals, including a person who has been adjudicated a danger to others as a result of a mental disorder or mental illness, a person who has been adjudicated a mentally disordered sex offender, a person who has been found not guilty by reason of insanity, or a person who has been placed under conservatorship by a court, among others, from possessing firearms or deadly weapons. Existing law authorizes a court to order a person to obtain assisted outpatient treatment if certain criteria are met, including that the person is suffering from a mental illness and is unlikely to survive safely in the community without supervision. This bill would prohibit a person who has been ordered by a court to obtain assisted outpatient treatment from purchasing or possessing any firearm or other deadly weapon while subject to assisted outpatient treatment. The bill would require the court to notify the Department of Justice of the order prohibiting the person from possessing a firearm or other deadly weapon within 2 days of the order, and to notify the Department of Justice when the person is no longer subject to assisted outpatient treatment. Because a violation of this provision would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by that limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make a legislative finding and declaration relating to the necessity of treating reports to the Department of Justice as confidential in order to protect the privacy of individuals ordered to obtain assisted outpatient treatment. (4) This bill would incorporate changes to Section 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by AB 1131, that would become operative on the date this bill becomes operative only if AB 1131 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2014, and this bill is chaptered last. (5) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.