Pen. Code, § 244.5 · Chapter 9. Assault and Battery
Pen. Code, § 244.5
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) As used in this section, “stun gun” means any item, except a less lethal weapon, as defined in Section 16780, used or intended to be used as either an offensive or defensive weapon that is capable of temporarily immobilizing a person by the infliction of an electrical charge.
(b) Every person who commits an assault upon the person of another with a stun gun or less lethal weapon, as defined in Section 16780, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for a term not exceeding one year, or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for 16 months, two, or three years.
(c) Every person who commits an assault upon the person of a peace officer or firefighter with a stun gun or less lethal weapon, as defined in Section 16780, who knows or reasonably should know that the person is a peace officer or firefighter engaged in the performance of his or her duties, when the peace officer or firefighter is engaged in the performance of his or her duties, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding one year, or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for two, three, or four years.
(d) This section shall not be construed to preclude or in any way limit the applicability of Section 245 in any criminal prosecution.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended (as amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 178) by Stats. 2011, Ch. 15, Sec. 297. (AB 109) Effective April 4, 2011. Amending action operative October 1, 2011, by Sec. 636 of Ch. 15, as amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 39, Sec. 68. Amended version operative January 1, 2012, pursuant to Stats. 2010, Ch. 178, Sec. 107.
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=244.5.
- Text hash
- sha256 c68983f36ae6abed32db0feda0950d8b64d865746d983550ea101c71d73260f5
- 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 10 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Pen. Code, § 244.5. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Penal Code
- Pen. Code, § 171bPrinted as Section 244.5
- Pen. Code, § 171cPrinted as Section 244.5
- Pen. Code, § 171.5Printed as Section 244.5
- Pen. Code, § 245.1Printed as Sections 148.2, 241, 243, 244.5, and 245
- Pen. Code, § 273.5Printed as Section 243.4, 244, 244.5, or 245
- Pen. Code, § 626.10Printed as Section 244.5
- Pen. Code, § 11160Printed as Section 244.5
- Pen. Code, § 22610Printed as Section 244.5
- Pen. Code, § 29805Printed as Section 171d, 186.28, 240, 241, 242, 243, 243.4, 244.5, 245, 245.5, 246.3, 247, 273.5, 273.6, 417, 417.6, 422, 422.6, 626.9, 646.9, 830.95, 17500, 17510, 25300, 25800, 30315, or 32625
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.