Assault with a firearm under California Penal Code 245(a)(2) is a wobbler, meaning the district attorney can file it as either a misdemeanor or a felony. A misdemeanor conviction carries six months to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $10,000. A felony conviction carries two, three, or four years in state prison, the same $10,000 maximum fine, a lifetime firearm ban, and a strike on your record under California’s Three Strikes law.
What the Prosecution Has to Prove
California’s pattern jury instructions set out four elements the prosecution must establish beyond a reasonable doubt. You did something with a firearm that would directly and probably result in force being applied to another person. You acted willfully. You were aware of facts that would lead a reasonable person to realize the act would probably result in force against someone. And you had the present ability to apply that force with the firearm at the time.1Justia. CALCRIM No. 875 – Assault With Deadly Weapon or Force Likely to Produce Great Bodily Injury
You do not need to have touched anyone. You do not need to have fired the gun. Pointing a loaded firearm at someone during an argument can satisfy every element even if no shot was fired and nobody was hurt.
A fifth element appears in the instructions: that you did not act in self-defense or defense of another. If evidence of either defense is in the record, the prosecution carries the burden of disproving it beyond a reasonable doubt.1Justia. CALCRIM No. 875 – Assault With Deadly Weapon or Force Likely to Produce Great Bodily Injury
How Prosecutors Choose Between Misdemeanor and Felony
Because the statute is a wobbler, the filing decision belongs to the district attorney, and the specifics of what happened drive it. Prosecutors weigh whether anyone was actually injured, how serious the injuries were, the type of firearm involved, and your criminal history. A first-time offender who waved an unloaded handgun during a heated argument is in a very different position than someone who fired a semiautomatic into a crowd.
A judge can also reduce a felony to a misdemeanor at sentencing or afterward under Penal Code 17(b), but only if the facts support it. The distinction matters well beyond the base sentence: it decides whether you carry a strike and whether you lose your firearm rights for ten years or for life.
Sentences and Fines
The base penalties track how the offense is charged and what kind of weapon was used.
- Misdemeanor: six months to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.2California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 245 – Assault With Deadly Weapon
- Felony: two, three, or four years in state prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.2California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 245 – Assault With Deadly Weapon
- Machine gun, assault weapon, or.50 BMG rifle: four, eight, or twelve years in state prison under PC 245(a)(3).2California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 245 – Assault With Deadly Weapon
The six-month floor on the misdemeanor version is unusual. Most California misdemeanors carry no mandatory minimum jail time, so even the lighter charge comes with guaranteed custody. Actual financial exposure also runs well past the $10,000 statutory cap once court assessments, penalty surcharges, and victim restitution are added.
Peace Officers and Firefighters
When the victim is a peace officer or firefighter performing their duties, and you knew or reasonably should have known that, PC 245(d) applies. These are straight felonies with no misdemeanor option:
- Standard firearm: four, six, or eight years in state prison.2California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 245 – Assault With Deadly Weapon
- Semiautomatic firearm: five, seven, or nine years in state prison.2California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 245 – Assault With Deadly Weapon
- Machine gun, assault weapon, or.50 BMG rifle: six, nine, or twelve years in state prison.2California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 245 – Assault With Deadly Weapon
Prosecutors must prove the knowledge element. If you genuinely had no reason to identify the victim as an on-duty officer or firefighter, 245(d) does not apply, though the base charge under 245(a)(2) still can.
Great Bodily Injury Enhancement
If the victim actually suffers serious physical injuries, the court can add a great bodily injury enhancement under Penal Code 12022.7. The standard enhancement adds three consecutive years in state prison. A coma or permanent paralysis pushes it to five years. Injuries to a victim 70 or older carry a five-year enhancement, and injuries to a child under five add four to six years.3California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 12022.7 – Great Bodily Injury Enhancement
Enhancement time runs consecutively, bolted onto the end of the base sentence rather than served at the same time. A four-year base term plus a three-year GBI enhancement is seven years before any other enhancement is considered.
Strike and Violent-Felony Classification
A felony conviction under 245(a)(2) is a serious felony under Penal Code 1192.7(c), which specifically names assault with a firearm.4California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 1192.7 – Serious Felony Definition That classification makes the conviction a strike automatically.
With one prior strike, any new felony sentence is doubled. With two or more prior strikes, a new felony conviction carries an indeterminate life sentence with a minimum term of 25 years. A narrow exception lets the court sentence under the one-strike doubling rule when the new offense is not itself serious or violent, unless specific aggravating factors apply such as firearm use during the new offense.5California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 667 – Three Strikes Sentencing
A separate classification as a violent felony under Penal Code 667.5(c) is not automatic for every conviction. The violent label attaches when a great bodily injury enhancement has been charged and proved under 12022.7, or when firearm use has been separately charged under specific enhancement statutes.6California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 667.5 – Violent Felony Definition That label triggers the custody rules described next and tightens parole eligibility.
How Much of the Sentence You Actually Serve
When the offense qualifies as a violent felony, Penal Code 2933.1 caps good-behavior credit at 15 percent of your sentence. You serve at least 85 percent of the term before becoming eligible for release. On a four-year sentence, that means roughly three years and five months behind bars rather than the two years a non-violent offender might serve under standard credits. The 15-percent cap applies both to state prison time and to any pre-sentencing county jail time.7California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 2933.1 – Violent Felony Credit Limitation
Convictions that stay classified as serious but not violent fall under the standard conduct credit rules, which generally allow more generous reductions. The serious-versus-violent line decides how much of the sentence turns into actual time inside.
Firearm Ban After Conviction
A felony conviction triggers a lifetime ban on owning, buying, or possessing any firearm under Penal Code 29800. The ban covers every firearm, not just the type involved in the offense, and it does not expire.8California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 29800 – Prohibitions on Firearm Access Violating the ban is itself a felony.
A misdemeanor conviction carries a ten-year firearm prohibition. Penal Code 23515 specifically lists 245(a)(2) among the misdemeanor offenses that trigger this ban.9California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 23515 – Offenses Involving Violent Use of Firearm The ten-year clock starts from the date of conviction. Possession during that window is a new criminal offense.
Federal law runs in parallel. Under 18 U.S.C. 922(g), a felony conviction under any state law bars firearm possession nationwide regardless of what California permits, and it carries its own penalties.
Immigration Exposure
For non-citizens, a conviction under 245(a)(2) creates deportation exposure that is hard to avoid. Federal immigration law makes any conviction for an offense involving the purchase, sale, use, ownership, possession, or carrying of a firearm a deportable offense.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens Assault with a firearm falls within that definition whether charged as a misdemeanor or a felony. A felony may also qualify as an aggravated felony if it is treated as a crime of violence with a sentence of one year or more, which would cut off nearly every form of immigration relief.
The misdemeanor-versus-felony choice does not solve the deportation problem; the firearm ground is broad enough to reach both. A plea that looks favorable on sentencing can still produce mandatory removal.
Defenses That Come Up Most Often
Self-defense is the most common response to this charge. Penal Code 197 justifies force used to resist an attempt to kill you, commit a felony against you, or inflict great bodily injury on you. It also covers defense of your home against someone who clearly intends violence, and defense of a spouse, parent, or child when there is reasonable ground to believe they face imminent serious harm.11California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 197 – Justifiable Homicide
“Imminent” is the word that controls. A fear of future harm, however real, does not qualify. The threat has to be happening now or about to happen in the next moment. Your response must be proportional to the threat. If you started the fight or willingly entered mutual combat, you generally lose the right to claim self-defense unless you genuinely tried to withdraw before using the firearm.
Other defenses that come up in these cases:
- Lack of present ability. If the firearm was inoperable or unloaded, and was not used as a bludgeon, the present-ability element may not be met. The argument depends on the exact condition of the weapon.
- No willful act. An accidental discharge, or firing without awareness that the gun was pointed at someone, can defeat the willful-intent element.
- Defense of others. The same self-defense principles apply when the force is used to protect another person from imminent serious harm.
Getting Firearm Rights Back
Restoring firearm rights after a felony conviction is extremely limited. The lifetime ban under PC 29800 has no built-in restoration process. A full gubernatorial pardon can restore firearm rights in some cases, but pardons are rare and discretionary. The federal route under 18 U.S.C. 925(c) has been largely unavailable for decades because Congress has not funded the ATF to process individual applications. As of early 2026, the Department of Justice has published a proposed rule to create a new application process through the Office of the Pardon Attorney, but the online application is not yet available.12Office of the Pardon Attorney. Federal Firearm Rights Restoration Under 18 USC 925(c)
For a misdemeanor, the ten-year prohibition expires on its own. Once ten years have passed from the date of conviction, you can lawfully purchase and possess firearms again under state law, provided no other disqualifying conviction or restraining order applies.