California Ghost Gun Attorney –  Penal Code 16590 PC

Can My Rights Law Help Me Reduce The Consequences Of My Ghost Gun Charges?

If you’ve been watching the news lately, then you’ve probably heard politicians and police share their fairly strong opinions about the rise of ghost guns on the West Coast. The LA Times reports that police seized nearly 1800 ghost guns as of November 2021. Ghost guns are particularly troublesome to law enforcement because they’re untraceable. After all, ghost guns aren’t manufactured by respectable companies. Instead, they’re usually made in someone’s home and sold on the streets. No background check nor receipt of purchase is required. If you have questions about ghost gun laws in California, continue reading below.

California Ghost Gun Lawyers

My Rights Law knows how to effectively defend you against a ghost gun charge. We will carefully review your situation and work hard to combat any gun crime charges the state throws at you. Don’t gamble on your future. Get a well-respected criminal defense team in your corner. To learn more, call My Rights Law’s gun charges lawyer at (888) 702-8882 or contact us through our secure web form today.

Are Ghost Guns Illegal?

What is a ghost gun, you may ask? A ghost gun is a gun that’s untraceable because it doesn’t have a serial number.[1] It’s without a serial number because online dealers can mail you easy-to-put-together gun parts for you to finish making at home. Manufacturers of gun-assembly kits have been around for ages, and it’s always been legal. In fact, only in the past few years have about one-fifth of all states adopted laws that, to some degree, ban or reduce the sale and purchase of gun assembly kits. Today, California is joining that list.

Police officers believe that an increase in ghost guns is responsible for increased crime. The criminals responsible for the Santa Monica College shooting in 2013[2] and Saugus High School shooting in 2019[3] used ghost guns. Within the first nine months of 2021, officers retrieved over seventy ghost guns from crime scenes in Los Angeles alone. Thus, recently, Los Angeles’ City Council unanimously voted to ban all sales, purchases, and transport of guns that don’t have a serial number. [4]You can expect more cities to be close behind.

What Are The Penalties For A Ghost Gun Charge?

According to the new law, people who are found purchasing, selling, or transporting a ghost gun may face up to a $1,000 fine and up to six months in county jail.[5] Worst of all, you’ll now have a criminal record. Although this will be a misdemeanor charge, you should not take it lightly. Any criminal conviction can have harmful effects on your career goals, job opportunities, housing opportunities, and even your education. Colleges and universities may not accept you if you have a criminal record. Moreover, convictions have been known to prevent graduates from getting licensed in their fields of study.

What Are Viable Defenses To A Ghost Gun Charge?

Now that you’re aware of the severe consequences you may face when an officer charges you with a ghost gun offense, you’ll undoubtedly want to know which defenses are available to you. To best describe the potential defenses you may have, we’d like to learn more about your specific case. Each case is different, and the slightest of distinctions can significantly affect the outcome of your case. But we are including some general arguments a good California criminal defense attorney can make to get your charge dismissed or beat it.

Fourth Amendment Violation

First, one of the likeliest defenses at your discretion is to argue that the arresting officer violated your constitutional rights. The Fourth Amendment prohibits government agents, such as officers, from searching and seizing your property unless they have reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe that you’ve been involved in a crime.

Unless an exception applies, for an officer to briefly detain you or stop and frisk you, they must act based on more than a hunch. Rather, they must refer to particular facts that would suggest a crime has been or is about to be committed, taken together with the overall circumstances. Because officers have extensive experience in thwarting crimes before they occur and dealing with criminals, they’re allowed to refer to their experiences as to why they believed you were doing something illegal. This is also true if they want to stop and search your vehicle.

An officer needs probable cause, however, when they want to obtain a warrant to arrest you or search your property. Probable cause is a higher threshold than reasonable suspicion. Typically, to show that there’s probable cause, the arresting officer must be able to point to concrete, credible evidence that you’ve done or are doing something unlawful. For example, if you went on Instagram Live and recorded yourself manufacturing a ghost gun in your bedroom and then firing it inside an unoccupied dwelling, most likely, you’ve given an officer probable cause to get a warrant for your arrest and search your bedroom.

So, what if the officer didn’t have reasonable suspicion or probable cause? In such a case, the judge must throw out any evidence that police unlawfully obtain. Officers aren’t allowed to violate your rights. Exceptions to unlawful searches apply, so it’s in your best interest to consult with an experienced ghost gun attorney as soon as possible. For example, if two officers lawfully stop you, see a gun in, say, your passenger seat, and you refuse to allow them to check whether it’s loaded, you’ve given them probable cause to make an arrest under California law.

Other defenses include:

• Mistake of fact
• Mistake of law
• Duress

Call My Rights Law’s California Gun Charges Lawyer Today

When police officers accuse you of committing a crime, more than anything, you want someone on your side. You want someone who will fight passionately and aggressively to get you the best results possible. Although it’s true that no attorney can guarantee you anything, the chances of you having a favorable outcome increase when you hire knowledgeable criminal defense attorneys who have decades of experience. We at My Rights Law are those attorneys.

Time is of the essence, so don’t wait. Get a knowledgeable attorney on your side. Call us now for a free consultation at (888) 702-8882 or complete our secure web form.

Other gun charges crimes we defend include: Carrying A Concealed Weapon, Brandishing A Weapon

FOOTNOTES
[1] Refer to CA Penal Code 16590(v).
[2] Refer to CBS News.
[3] Refer to CNN.
[4] Refer to CALCRIM No. 2500.
[5] Refer to ABC7.