Pen. Code, § 26350 · Article 1. Crime of Openly Carrying an Unloaded Handgun
Pen. Code, § 26350
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) (1) A person is guilty of openly carrying an unloaded handgun when that person carries upon his or her person an exposed and unloaded handgun outside a vehicle while in or on any of the following:
(A) A public place or public street in an incorporated city or city and county.
(B) A public street in a prohibited area of an unincorporated area of a county or city and county.
(C) A public place in a prohibited area of a county or city and county.
(2) A person is guilty of openly carrying an unloaded handgun when that person carries an exposed and unloaded handgun inside or on a vehicle, whether or not on his or her person, while in or on any of the following:
(A) A public place or public street in an incorporated city or city and county.
(B) A public street in a prohibited area of an unincorporated area of a county or city and county.
(C) A public place in a prohibited area of a county or city and county.
(b) (1) Except as specified in paragraph (2), a violation of this section is a misdemeanor.
(2) A violation of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment, if both of the following conditions exist:
(A) The handgun and unexpended ammunition capable of being discharged from that handgun are in the immediate possession of that person.
(B) The person is not in lawful possession of that handgun.
(c) (1) Nothing in this section shall preclude prosecution under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 29800) or Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 29900) of Division 9, Section 8100 or 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or any other law with a penalty greater than is set forth in this section.
(2) The provisions of this section are cumulative and shall not be construed as restricting the application of any other law. However, an act or omission punishable in different ways by different provisions of law shall not be punished under more than one provision.
(d) Notwithstanding the fact that the term “an unloaded handgun” is used in this section, each handgun shall constitute a distinct and separate offense under this section.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Stats. 2011, Ch. 725, Sec. 14. (AB 144) Effective January 1, 2012.
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=26350.
- Text hash
- sha256 194fcd3d5458ab6490e79abb59e95a7c2dea9174adc691d58a191f1f76626c9c
- 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 38 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Pen. Code, § 26350. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Penal Code
- Pen. Code, § 17512Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 25590Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26361Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26362Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26363Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26364Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26365Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26366Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26366.5Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26367Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26368Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26369Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26370Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26371Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26372Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26373Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26374Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26375Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26376Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26377Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26378Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26379Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26380Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26381Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26382Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26383Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26384Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26385Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26386Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26387Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26388Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26389Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26390Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26391Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26392Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 26395Printed as Section 26350
- Pen. Code, § 29805Printed as Section 26350
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.