Federally, a 16 year old is prohibited from acquiring a handgun.
VII. SELL, DELIVER OR TRANSFER TO A JUVENILE: 18 USC § 922(x)(1). Punishable by up to 1 year imprisonment unless transferor had reason to believe juvenile would commit crime of violence with gun or ammunition, then up to 10 years imprisonment. 18 USC § 922(b). A firearms licensee faces up to 5 years imprisonment. A. May not sell, deliver or transfer a handgun or handgun-only ammunition to a person who is under age 18; B. A person under age 18 may not possess a handgun or handgun-only ammunition; (Certain exceptions apply to A & B, such as where juvenile possesses written permission of a parent.); C. A firearms licensee may not sell any gun or ammunition to anyone under the age of 18 and may not sell a handgun or handgun ammunition to a person under the age of 21.
At the state level, safe storage is required.
(a)?Except as provided in Section 25105 , a person commits the crime of “criminal storage of a firearm in the first degree” if all of the following conditions are satisfied:
(1)?The person keeps any loaded firearm within any premises that are under the person's custody or control.
(2)?The person knows or reasonably should know that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the child's parent or legal guardian, or that a person prohibited from possessing a firearm or deadly weapon pursuant to state or federal law is likely to gain access to the firearm.
(3)?The child obtains access to the firearm and thereby causes death or great bodily injury to the child or any other person, or the person prohibited from possessing a firearm or deadly weapon pursuant to state or federal law obtains access to the firearm and thereby causes death or great bodily injury to himself or herself or any other person.
(b)?Except as provided in Section 25105 , a person commits the crime of “criminal storage of a firearm in the second degree” if all of the following conditions are satisfied:
(1)?The person keeps any loaded firearm within any premises that are under the person's custody or control.
(2)?The person knows or reasonably should know that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the child's parent or legal guardian, or that a person prohibited from possessing a firearm or deadly weapon pursuant to state or federal law is likely to gain access to the firearm.
(3)?The child obtains access to the firearm and thereby causes injury, other than great bodily injury, to the child or any other person, or carries the firearm either to a public place or in violation of Section 417 , or the person prohibited from possessing a firearm or deadly weapon pursuant to state or federal law obtains access to the firearm and thereby causes injury, other than great bodily injury, to himself or herself or any other person, or carries the firearm either to a public place or in violation of Section 417 .
(c)?Except as provided in Section 25105 , a person commits the crime of “criminal storage of a firearm in the third degree” if the person keeps any loaded firearm within any premises that are under the person's custody or control and negligently stores or leaves a loaded firearm in a location where the person knows, or reasonably should know, that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the child's parent or legal guardian, unless reasonable action is taken by the person to secure the firearm against access by the child.
At the state level, there are universal background checks. They have had it since 1991. No unregulated private transfers. Not at gun shows. Not at flea markets. Not in the paper/classifieds. Not face to face for any reason. There is no legal means by which a handgun would be transferred to a minor in California.
California has waiting periods. They're irrelevant in this case, because a minor cannot legally acquire a handgun by any means, but California has a 10 day waiting period on handguns.
California enacted Red Flag gun laws in 2016, allowing family members and law enforcement to flag individuals for up to 5 years, and this year they expanded the eligible reporters list. (Gun Violence Restraining Orders)
It's not like this kid could have walked across the border into Nevada and avoided some of these laws because they are state and not federal. He's near LA.
California has already achieved (With federal overlap on age restrictions) what we're looking for here. The state exhibits model gun control legislation, most of which has been in place for years if not decades. As long as the US Population HAS ANY GUNS AT ALL, sometimes shit will happen. At least California has done all the prior restraint work to curtail it, and has tools to prosecute whoever enabled this kid to acquire a gun. It's awful that this happened, but there is never 100% efficacy of any legislation.
California has done good work here, it's the rest of the country at risk.
= new reply since forum marked as read
