Delacy

Defendant Rick Charles Delacy was convicted of four counts of unlawful possession of firearms and one count of unlawful possession of ammunition. (Pen. Code, 1 §§ 12021, subd. (c)(1), 12316, subd. (b)(1).) He challenges the constitutionality of section 12021, subdivision (c)(1), which prohibits the possession of firearms by persons convicted of specified misdemeanors, contending it violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms and equal protection. He also argues his conviction under section 12316, subdivision (b)(1) must be reversed because the trial court declined to instruct the jury on a mistake of fact defense and failed to answer adequately a jury question as to the mental state element required for conviction. Finally, defendant claims certain fees and fines should be stricken from the trial court’s sentencing minute order because the trial court did not orally impose them at the sentencing hearing. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Defendant’s crimes were charged in two informations, arising from two separate incidents. In case No. CR142103 (the firearm case), defendant was charged with four felony counts of unlawful firearm possession. (§ 12021, subd. (c)(1).) The…

I respectfully dissent.

My objection to the majority will focus on the analysis of the equal protection issue in the opinion. I do not need to discuss defendant’s Second Amendment challenge to the statute because, in my opinion, Penal Code section 12021, subdivision (c), 1 cannot withstand scrutiny under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

*1499 This is a case where defendant sustained a misdemeanor conviction in California for a violation of section 242 (battery) in 2006. He was placed on probation. In April 2008, while conducting a probation search, officers found four rifles in defendant’s home. They were a Remington 700, a Winchester 100, a Benelli Black Eagle, and a Savage Arms 110. Defendant claimed he used the rifles for hunting game. He testified accordingly. He also represented to the officers he was never advised he could not possess weapons for hunting purposes. He was subsequently charged with a violation of section 12021, subdivision (c)(1), a felony, because he had previously been convicted of the misdemeanor battery offense in California within the past 10 years. The equal protection dilemma posed by section 12021, subdivision (c) is that it…