CHAPTER 4. Prohibited Armed Persons File [30000. - 30020.]

Cal. Penal Code - PEN 4.

in effect

Cal. Penal Code - PEN § 30000. Section 30000.

(a) The Attorney General shall establish and maintain an online database to be known as the Prohibited Armed Persons File. The purpose of the file is to cross-reference persons who have ownership or possession of a firearm on or after January 1, 1996, as indicated by a record in the Consolidated Firearms Information System, and who, subsequent to the date of that ownership or possession of a firearm, fall within a class of persons who are prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm. (b) Except as provided in subdivision (c), the information contained in the Prohibited Armed Persons File shall only be available to those entities specified in, and pursuant to, subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 11105, through the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, for the purpose of determining if persons are armed and prohibited from possessing firearms. (c) The information contained in the Prohibited Armed Persons File shall be available to researchers affiliated with the California Firearm Violence Research Center at UC Davis following approval by the institution’s governing institutional review board, when required. At the department’s discretion, and subject to Section 14240, the data may be provided to any other nonprofit bona fide research institution accredited by the United States Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation for the study of the prevention of violence, following approval by the institution’s governing institutional review board or human subjects committee, when required, for academic and policy research purposes. Material identifying individuals shall only be provided for research or statistical activities and shall not be transferred, revealed, or used for purposes other than research or statistical activities, and reports or publications derived therefrom shall not identify specific individuals. Reasonable costs to the department associated with the department’s processing of that data may be billed to the researcher. If a request for data or letter of support for research using the data is denied, the department shall provide a written statement of the specific reasons for the denial.

Cal. Penal Code - PEN § 30005. Section 30005.

The Prohibited Armed Persons File database shall function as follows: (a) Upon entry into the Automated Criminal History System of a disposition for a conviction of any felony, a conviction for any firearms-prohibiting charge specified in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 29800), a conviction for an offense described in Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 29900), a firearms prohibition pursuant to Section 8100 or 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or any firearms possession prohibition identified by the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check System, the Department of Justice shall determine if the subject has an entry in the Consolidated Firearms Information System indicating possession or ownership of a firearm on or after January 1, 1996, or an assault weapon registration, or a .50 BMG rifle registration. (b) Upon an entry into any department automated information system that is used for the identification of persons who are prohibited by state or federal law from acquiring, owning, or possessing firearms, the department shall determine if the subject has an entry in the Consolidated Firearms Information System indicating ownership or possession of a firearm on or after January 1, 1996, or an assault weapon registration, or a .50 BMG rifle registration. (c) If the department determines that, pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), the subject has an entry in the Consolidated Firearms Information System indicating possession or ownership of a firearm on or after January 1, 1996, or an assault weapon registration, or a .50 BMG rifle registration, the following information shall be entered into the Prohibited Armed Persons File: (1) The subject’s name. (2) The subject’s date of birth. (3) The subject’s physical description. (4) Any other identifying information regarding the subject that is deemed necessary by the Attorney General. (5) The basis of the firearms possession prohibition. (6) A description of all firearms owned or possessed by the subject, as reflected by the Consolidated Firearms Information System.

Cal. Penal Code - PEN § 30010. Section 30010.

(a) The Attorney General shall provide investigative assistance to local law enforcement agencies to better ensure the investigation of individuals who are armed and prohibited from possessing a firearm. (b) The Attorney General shall provide local law enforcement agencies all of the following information relating to prohibited persons listed in the Prohibited Armed Persons File in their jurisdiction: (1) Personal identifying information. (2) Case status. (3) Prohibition type or reason. (4) Prohibition expiration date. (5) Known firearms associated to the prohibited person. (6) Information regarding previous contacts with the prohibited person, if applicable.

Cal. Penal Code - PEN § 30012. Section 30012.

(a) No later than March 15, 2024, and no later than March 15 of each year thereafter, the Department of Justice shall report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and the fiscal committees of each house of the Legislature all of the following information for the immediately preceding calendar year: (1) The total number of individuals in the Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS) and the number of cases which are active and pending, as follows: (A) (i) For active cases, the department shall report the status of each case for which the department has initiated an investigation. This information shall include, at a minimum, the number of cases that have not been actively investigated for 12 months or longer, along with a breakdown of the time period that has elapsed since a case was added to the system. (ii) For purposes of this paragraph, “investigation” means any work conducted by sworn or nonsworn staff to determine whether a prohibited person possesses one or more firearms, whether to remove the person from the database, or whether to shift the person to the pending caseload. (B) For pending cases, the department shall separately report the number of cases that are unable to be cleared, unable to be located, related to out-of-state individuals, related to only federal firearms prohibitions, and related to incarcerated individuals. (2) The number of individuals added to the APPS database. (3) The number of individuals removed from the APPS database, including a breakdown of the basis on which they were removed. At a minimum, this information shall separately report those cases that were removed because the individual is deceased, had prohibitions expire or removed, or had their cases resolved as a result of department firearm seizure activities. (4) The degree to which the backlog in the APPS has been reduced or eliminated. For purposes of this section, “backlog” means the number of cases for which the department did not initiate an investigation within six months of the case being added to the APPS or has not completed investigatory work within six months of initiating an investigation on the case. (5) The number of individuals in the APPS before and after the relevant reporting period, including a breakdown of why each individual in the APPS is prohibited from possessing a firearm. (6) The number of agents and other staff hired for enforcement of the APPS. (7) The number of firearms recovered due to enforcement of the APPS. (8) The number of contacts made during the APPS enforcement efforts. (9) Information regarding task forces or collaboration with local law enforcement on reducing the APPS file or backlog. (b) For purposes of this section, “Armed Prohibited Persons System” means the “Prohibited Armed Persons File,” as described in Section 30000.

Cal. Penal Code - PEN § 30015. Section 30015.

(a) The sum of twenty-four million dollars ($24,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the Dealers’ Record of Sale Special Account of the General Fund to the Department of Justice to address the backlog in the Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS) and the illegal possession of firearms by those prohibited persons. (b) No later than March 1, 2015, and no later than March 1 each year thereafter, the department shall report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee all of the following for the immediately preceding calendar year: (1) The degree to which the backlog in the APPS has been reduced or eliminated. (2) The number of agents hired for enforcement of the APPS. (3) The number of people cleared from the APPS. (4) The number of people added to the APPS. (5) The number of people in the APPS before and after the relevant reporting period, including a breakdown of why each person in the APPS is prohibited from possessing a firearm. (6) The number of firearms recovered due to enforcement of the APPS. (7) The number of contacts made during the APPS enforcement efforts. (8) Information regarding task forces or collaboration with local law enforcement on reducing the APPS backlog. (c) (1) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under subdivision (b) is inoperative on March 1, 2019, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code. (2) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

Cal. Penal Code - PEN § 30020. Section 30020.

(a) The Department of Justice shall complete an initial review of a match in the daily queue of the Armed Prohibited Persons System within seven days of the match being placed in the queue and shall periodically reassess whether the department can complete those reviews more efficiently. (b) (1) For the purpose of this section, “Armed Prohibited Persons System” means the “Prohibited Armed Persons File,” as described in Section 30000. (2) For the purpose of this section, “match” means the entry into the Automated Criminal History System or into any department automated information system of the name and other information of an individual who may be prohibited from acquiring, owning, or possessing a firearm, and a corresponding record of ownership or possession of a firearm by that individual, as described in Section 30005.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026