Pen. Code, § 245 · Chapter 9. Assault and Battery
Pen. Code, § 245
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) (1) Any person who commits an assault upon the person of another with a deadly weapon or instrument other than a firearm shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years, or in a county jail for not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment.
(2) Any person who commits an assault upon the person of another with a firearm shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years, or in a county jail for not less than six months and not exceeding one year, or by both a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and imprisonment.
(3) Any person who commits an assault upon the person of another with a machinegun, as defined in Section 16880, or an assault weapon, as defined in Section 30510 or 30515, or a .50 BMG rifle, as defined in Section 30530, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for 4, 8, or 12 years.
(4) Any person who commits an assault upon the person of another by any means of force likely to produce great bodily injury shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years, or in a county jail for not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment.
(b) Any person who commits an assault upon the person of another with a semiautomatic firearm shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for three, six, or nine years.
(c) Any person who commits an assault with a deadly weapon or instrument, other than a firearm, or by any means likely to produce great bodily injury upon the person of a peace officer or firefighter, and who knows or reasonably should know that the victim 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 state prison for three, four, or five years.
(d) (1) Any person who commits an assault with a firearm upon the person of a peace officer or firefighter, and who knows or reasonably should know that the victim 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 state prison for four, six, or eight years.
(2) Any person who commits an assault upon the person of a peace officer or firefighter with a semiautomatic firearm and who knows or reasonably should know that the victim 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 state prison for five, seven, or nine years.
(3) Any person who commits an assault with a machinegun, as defined in Section 16880, or an assault weapon, as defined in Section 30510 or 30515, or a .50 BMG rifle, as defined in Section 30530, upon the person of a peace officer or firefighter, and who knows or reasonably should know that the victim is a peace officer or firefighter engaged in the performance of his or her duties, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for 6, 9, or 12 years.
(e) When a person is convicted of a violation of this section in a case involving use of a deadly weapon or instrument or firearm, and the weapon or instrument or firearm is owned by that person, the court shall order that the weapon or instrument or firearm be deemed a nuisance, and it shall be confiscated and disposed of in the manner provided by Sections 18000 and 18005.
(f) As used in this section, “peace officer” refers to any person designated as a peace officer in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended (as amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 178) by Stats. 2011, Ch. 183, Sec. 1. (AB 1026) Effective January 1, 2012. 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=245.
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- 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.
Penal Code
- Pen. Code, pt. 2, tit. 3, ch. 4.5Peace OfficersPrinted as Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2
- Pen. Code, § 16880Printed as Section 16880
- Pen. Code, § 18000Printed as Sections 18000 and 18005
- Pen. Code, § 18005Printed as Sections 18000 and 18005
- Pen. Code, § 30510Printed as Section 30510 or 30515
- Pen. Code, § 30515Printed as Section 30510 or 30515
- Pen. Code, § 30530Printed as Section 30530
Cited by 31 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Pen. Code, § 245. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Education Code
Penal Code
- Pen. Code, § 186.2Printed as Section 245
- Pen. Code, § 186.22Printed as Section 245
- Pen. Code, § 244.5Printed as Section 245
- Pen. Code, § 245.1Printed as Sections 148.2, 241, 243, 244.5, and 245
- Pen. Code, § 245.5Printed as Section 245
- Pen. Code, § 273.5Printed as Section 243.4, 244, 244.5, or 245
- Pen. Code, § 490.8Printed as Section 240, 242, or 245
- Pen. Code, § 647.3Printed as Section 245
- Pen. Code, § 653jPrinted as Section 187, 211, 215, 245, 246, 451, 459, or 520 of the Penal Code
- Pen. Code, § 667Printed as Section 245
- Pen. Code, § 868.5Printed as Section 211, 215, 220, 236.1, 240, 242, 243.4, 245, 261, 266, 266a, 266b, 266c, 266d, 266e, 266f, 266g, 266h, 266i, 266j, 266k, 267, 269, 273a, 273d, 273.5, 273.6, 278, 278.5, 285, 286, 287, 288, 288.
- Pen. Code, § 1170.12Printed as Section 245
- Pen. Code, § 1170.76Printed as Section 243.4, 245, or 273.5
- Pen. Code, § 1174.4Printed as Section 245
- Pen. Code, § 1192.7Printed as Section 245
- Pen. Code, § 1203.055Printed as Section 241, 241.3, 241.4, 244, 245, 245.2, or 246
- Pen. Code, § 1203.08Printed as Section 187, 192, 207, 209, 209.5, 211, 215, 217, 245, 288
- Pen. Code, § 3057Printed as Section 245
- Pen. Code, § 11160Printed as Section 245
- Pen. Code, § 12022.5Printed as Section 245
- Pen. Code, § 12022.53Printed as Section 245
- Pen. Code, § 23515Printed as Section 245
- 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
Vehicle Code
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.