California Code of Regulations
Title 15 - Crime Prevention and Corrections
Division 3 - Adult Institutions, Programs and Parole
Chapter 1 - Rules and Regulations of Adult Operations and Programs
Subchapter 4 - General Institution Regulations
Article 2 - Security
Section 3276 - Firearms

(a) Only peace officers who have satisfactorily completed firearms training and who are currently qualified in the firing of departmental firearms shall be assigned to armed posts or otherwise be authorized to possess, carry or use a departmental firearm. Exceptions are only authorized in extreme emergencies when peace officers are not available in sufficient numbers or in time to stop or control a situation which warrants the immediate use of force, as described in section 3268.

(b) An employee appointed to a peace officer position wherein the specifications of the position include the carrying and use of firearms shall be given a reasonable time to complete firearms training and to qualify in the firing of departmental firearms. Persistent failure or refusal to satisfactorily complete firearms training and to qualify in the firing of departmental firearms shall be cause for dismissal from employment as a peace officer.

(c) Employees shall not have accessible, carry or use privately owned firearms or ammunition while on duty, except as authorized by the director or his/her designee. For the purpose of this section "on duty" means any time which is compensable as actual time worked.

(d) Employees who are ordered to carry a concealable firearm while on duty away from facilities where incarcerated/supervised persons are located shall keep the firearm concealed at all times except when use of the firearm is necessary. Employees on duty on the grounds of, and in, facilities where incarcerated/supervised persons are located shall not carry a concealed firearm unless ordered to do so by the official in charge.

(e) Each facility where incarcerated/supervised persons are located which maintains an unissued supply of firearms, ammunition, and other lethal weaponry as described in Section 3275, shall provide for its long-term storage in a physically secure armory. Armories shall be located so as to be under 24-hour-a-day coverage of an armed post and away from areas that are open to traffic by unsupervised incarcerated/supervised persons and the public. At camps or other locations where these armory requirements cannot be met, arrangements shall be made for the long-term storage of such equipment off the grounds. Community Correctional Facility armories shall be exempt from the armed coverage requirement, but they shall be under 24-hour-a-day observation by staff directly, or by video surveillance, and shall be equipped with audible electronic alarms.

(f) Each facility where incarcerated/supervised persons are located shall provide a physically secure locked container, located outside the security areas, for the temporary storage of firearms, ammunition and other weaponry of employees and officials who must come on the grounds or enter the facility in the course of their employment or official business.

(g) Employees and others who live on the grounds of facilities where incarcerated/supervised persons are located, and any guests or visitors of such persons, shall not bring to, maintain, store or keep any firearms or ammunition in such residences at any time. Arrangements shall be made for the use of storage facilities described in subsections (e) and (f).

(h) Firearms and ammunition shall not be left in an unattended vehicle at any time upon the grounds of facilities where incarcerated/supervised persons are located. Exceptions are authorized only when the vehicle is securely locked and under the direct observation of staff who are aware that the vehicle contains firearms or ammunition, or when the vehicle is equipped with a departmentally approved secure container for such equipment. Merely out of sight storage such as in the spare tire well, trunk or glove box does not meet the requirements for a secure container.

(i) The loss or theft of departmentally issued/authorized firearms/duty weapons or related equipment shall be immediately reported to the responsible employee's supervisor, and through the supervisor to the administrator of the jurisdiction of employment, and/or to the attention of the administrator in which the loss or theft occurred, if in a different jurisdiction. Local law enforcement agencies shall be notified, and a written report shall be made to the deputy director/assistant director within whose jurisdiction the loss or theft occurred.