Way

Regulation 4038 of the California Youth Authority (hereafter Department) provides: “An employee shall not carry or use firearms or other lethal weapons under any circumstances while on duty or acting in an official capacity.” (Cal. Admin. Code, tit. 15, § 4038.) In the summer of 1980, the Department reaffirmed the regulation following a series of public hearings.

Robert M. Gomez, a parole agent with the Department, and the California State Employees’ Association, the bargaining representative for Department parole agents, brought a mandamus petition and complaint for declaratory relief challenging the validity of the regulation. The trial court granted summary judgment for the Department and this appeal ensued; we affirm.

Procedural History

The gist of plaintiffs’ action was that the job of a parole agent is so dangerous that the Department has a duty (Lab. Code, § 6400 et seq.) to furnish or pay for service revolvers as “safety devices.” The contention is founded on Labor Code section 6401, which provides: “Every employer shall furnish and use safety devices and safeguards, and shall adopt and use practices, means, methods, operations, and processes which are…