Opinion No. (1999)

BILL LOCKYER Attorney General CLAYTON P. ROCHE Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE DEAN D. FLIPPO, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, MONTEREY COUNTY, has requested an opinion on the following question: May a person, without permission, possess in a school zone two separate parts of a firearm that lock together by pushing a button and moving a pin? CONCLUSION A person may not, without permission, possess in a school zone two separate parts of a firearm that lock together by pushing a button and moving a pin. ANALYSIS The question presented for resolution concerns a statute that prohibits possession of a "firearm" in a school zone. Does the prohibition of Penal Code section 626.9 1 apply when the "firearm" has been dismantled into two parts that lock together by pushing a button and moving a pin? We conclude that the statutory prohibition applies in the described circumstances. Subdivision (b) of section 626.9 provides: "Any person who possesses a firearm in a place that the person knows, or reasonably should know, is a school zone, as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (e), unless it is with the written permission of the school district superintendent, his or her designee, or equivalent…