Firearm Safety

In accordance with California Education Code 49392(a), Carlsbad Unified School District shall, as part of our Annual Notification to parents or guardians, share information related to the safe storage of firearms. This information includes the following:

Parents have the responsibility for keeping firearms out of the hands of children as required by California law. Seventy-four percent of children know where their parents’ firearms are stored, and 60 percent report that they have handled them. Sadly, over 80 percent of teens who have died by suicide used a firearm that belonged to someone in their home. These incidents can be easily prevented by storing firearms in a safe and secure manner, including keeping them locked up when not in use and storing them separately from ammunition.

In reviewing the following information, parents are encouraged to evaluate their own personal practices to assure that every member in the family is in compliance with California law. 

• With very limited exceptions, California makes a person criminally liable for keeping any firearm, loaded or unloaded, within any premises that are under their custody and control where that person knows or reasonably should know that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the child’s parent, and the child obtains access to the firearm and thereby (1) causes death or injury to the child or any other person; (2) carries the firearm off the premises or to a public place, including to any preschool or school grades kindergarten through twelfth grade, or to any school-sponsored event, activity, or performance; or (3) unlawfully brandishes the firearm to others. (PC 25100-25125, 25200-25220)
  Note: The criminal penalty may be significantly greater if someone dies or suffers great bodily injury as a result of the child gaining access to the firearm.
• With very limited exceptions, California also makes it a crime for a person to negligently store or leave any firearm, loaded or unloaded, on their premises in a location where the person knows or reasonably should know that a child is likely to gain access to it without the permission of the child’s parent, unless reasonable action is taken to secure the firearm against access by the child, even where a minor never actually accesses the firearm. (PC 25100(c))
• In addition to potential fines and terms of imprisonment, as of January 1, 2020, a gun owner found criminally liable under these California laws faces prohibitions from possessing, having custody or control, owning, receiving, or purchasing a firearm for 10 years. (PC 29805)
• A parent may also be civilly liable for damages resulting from the discharge of a firearm by that person’s child or ward. (CC 1714.3)
• The county or city where the parent resides may have additional restrictions regarding the safe storage of firearms.

The easiest and safest way to comply with the law is to keep firearms in a locked container or secured with a locking device that renders the firearm inoperable. 

More information is available in CUSD's Annual Notification of Rights (English and Spanish versions available).