Pen. Code, § 12021.5 · Title 2. SENTENCE ENHANCEMENTS
Pen. Code, § 12021.5
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) Every person who carries a loaded or unloaded firearm on his or her person, or in a vehicle, during the commission or attempted commission of any street gang crimes described in subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 186.22, shall, upon conviction of the felony or attempted felony, be punished by an additional term of imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for one, two, or three years in the court’s discretion. The court shall impose the middle term unless there are circumstances in aggravation or mitigation. The court shall state the reasons for its enhancement choice on the record at the time of sentence.
(b) Every person who carries a loaded or unloaded firearm together with a detachable shotgun magazine, a detachable pistol magazine, a detachable magazine, or a belt-feeding device on his or her person, or in a vehicle, during the commission or attempted commission of any street gang crimes described in subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 186.22, shall, upon conviction of the felony or attempted felony, be punished by an additional term of imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years in the court’s discretion. The court shall impose the middle term unless there are circumstances in aggravation or mitigation. The court shall state the reasons for its enhancement choice on the record at the time of sentence.
(c) As used in this section, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) “Detachable magazine” means a device that is designed or redesigned to do all of the following:
(A) To be attached to a rifle that is designed or redesigned to fire ammunition.
(B) To be attached to, and detached from, a rifle that is designed or redesigned to fire ammunition.
(C) To feed ammunition continuously and directly into the loading mechanism of a rifle that is designed or redesigned to fire ammunition.
(2) “Detachable pistol magazine” means a device that is designed or redesigned to do all of the following:
(A) To be attached to a semiautomatic firearm that is not a rifle or shotgun that is designed or redesigned to fire ammunition.
(B) To be attached to, and detached from, a firearm that is not a rifle or shotgun that is designed or redesigned to fire ammunition.
(C) To feed ammunition continuously and directly into the loading mechanism of a firearm that is not a rifle or a shotgun that is designed or redesigned to fire ammunition.
(3) “Detachable shotgun magazine” means a device that is designed or redesigned to do all of the following:
(A) To be attached to a firearm that is designed or redesigned to fire a fixed shotgun shell through a smooth or rifled bore.
(B) To be attached to, and detached from, a firearm that is designed or redesigned to fire a fixed shotgun shell through a smooth bore.
(C) To feed fixed shotgun shells continuously and directly into the loading mechanism of a firearm that is designed or redesigned to fire a fixed shotgun shell.
(4) “Belt-feeding device” means a device that is designed or redesigned to continuously feed ammunition into the loading mechanism of a machinegun or a semiautomatic firearm.
(5) “Rifle” shall have the same meaning as specified in Section 17090.
(6) “Shotgun” shall have the same meaning as specified in Section 17190.
(d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2022.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended (as amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 508, Sec. 12) by Stats. 2016, Ch. 887, Sec. 12. (SB 1016) Effective January 1, 2017. Section operative January 1, 2022, by its own provisions.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=12021.5.
- Text hash
- sha256 f3eec25331589af32bba166a77e6d2f4501105c76089b3158348b0d9bc6d8664
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Cited by 3 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Pen. Code, § 12021.5. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Penal Code
- Pen. Code, § 1170.11Printed as Sections 593a, 600, 667.8, 667.85, 667.9, 667.10, 667.15, 667.16, 667.17, 674, 675, 12021.5, 12022, 12022.2, 12022.3, 12022.4, 12022.5, 12022.53, 12022.55, 12022.6, 12022.7, 12022.75, 12022.8, 12022.8
- Pen. Code, § 1170.89Printed as Section 12021.5, 12022, 12022.2, 12022.3, 12022.4, 12022.5, or 12022.55
- Pen. Code, § 12022.53Printed as Section 12021.5, 12022, 12022.3, 12022.4, 12022.5, or 12022.55
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.