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9.1: Unlawful Possession

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    The crime of possession of a sawed-off shotgun is defined in section 33210 of the California Penal Code.

    Except as expressly provided in Sections 33215 to 33225, inclusive, and in Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 17700) of Division 2 of Title 2, and solely in accordance with those provisions, no person may manufacture, import into this state, keep for sale, offer for sale, give, lend, or possess any short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun. Nothing else in any provision listed in Section 16580 shall be construed as authorizing the manufacture, importation into the state, keeping for sale, offering for sale, or giving, lending, or possession of any short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun.

    clipboard_e50fb20bf50c6302c0e1ad3b547b92fb2.png
    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Lupara. Photographs taken on 2007-06-08License migration redundantGFDLCC-BY-SA-3.0-migratedCCBY-SA-2.5,2.0,1.0Self-published work

    Illegal Weapons

    The crime of possession of illegal weapons is defined in section 16590 of the California Penal Code.

    As used in this part, “generally prohibited weapon” means any of the following:

    (a) An air gauge knife, as prohibited by Section 20310.

    (b) Ammunition that contains or consists of a flechette dart, as prohibited by Section 30210.

    (c) A ballistic knife, as prohibited by Section 21110.

    (d) A belt buckle knife, as prohibited by Section 20410.

    (e) A bullet containing or carrying an explosive agent, as prohibited by Section 30210.

    (f) A camouflaging firearm container, as prohibited by Section 24310.

    (g) A cane gun, as prohibited by Section 24410.

    (h) A cane sword, as prohibited by Section 20510.

    (i) A concealed dirk or dagger, as prohibited by Section 21310.

    (j) A concealed explosive substance, other than fixed ammunition, as prohibited by Section 19100.

    (k) A firearm that is not immediately recognizable as a firearm, as prohibited by Section 24510.

    (l) A large-capacity magazine, as prohibited by Section 32310.

    (m) A leaded cane or an instrument or weapon of the kind commonly known as a billy, blackjack, sandbag, sandclub, sap, or slungshot, as prohibited by Section 22210.

    (n) A lipstick case knife, as prohibited by Section 20610.

    (o) Metal knuckles, as prohibited by Section 21810.

    (p) A metal military practice hand grenade or a metal replica hand grenade, as prohibited by Section 19200.

    (q) A multi-burst trigger activator, as prohibited by Section 32900.

    (r) A shobi-zue, as prohibited by Section 20710.

    (s) A short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun, as prohibited by Section 33215.

    (t) A shuriken, as prohibited by Section 22410.

    (u) An unconventional pistol, as prohibited by Section 31500.

    (v) An undetectable firearm, as prohibited by Section 24610.

    (w) A wallet gun, as prohibited by Section 24710.

    (x) A writing pen knife, as prohibited by Section 20910.

    A zip gun, as prohibited by Section 33600.

    clipboard_e89f5ab8d216070cd0859ab4b121829ee.png
    Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): A Rifle and Ammunition.xii

    This page titled 9.1: Unlawful Possession was last modified on Sat, 03 Oct 2026 18:49:38 GMT and is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by George Cartwright.