Monte Sereno Municipal Code Ch. 4.14 Assault Weapons

The following terms shall, for purposes of this Chapter, have the meaning ascribed to them in this section.

A. "Assault weapon" shall mean and include:

1. All semiautomatic action center fire rifles that accept detachable magazines with a capacity of more than five rounds, including but not limited to the following examples: Uzi semiautomatic assault rifles or carbines, Ingram Mac-II semiautomatic assault carbines, Heckler and Koch 93 semiautomatic assault rifles, Heckler and Koch 91 semiautomatic assault rifles, AK-47 semiautomatic assault rifles, AKM-47 semiautomatic assault rifles, all Automat Kalashnikov weapons, Thompson semiautomatic carbines,

2. All semiautomatic shotguns with a magazine capacity of more than six (6) rounds;

3. Any firearm which may be readily converted to an operable assault weapon, as defined in 1. and 2. above; and

4. Any part, or combination of parts, designed or intended to convert a firearm into an assault weapon, or any combination of parts from which an assault weapon may be readily assembled if those parts are in the possession or under the control of the same person.

B. As used in this Chapter, "assault weapon" does not include any of the following:

1. Weapons that do not use fixed ammunition, weapons that were in production prior to 1898, manually operated bolt-action weapons, lever-action weapons, slide-action weapons, single-shot weapons, multiple barrel weapons, revolving cylinder weapons with a magazine of five rounds or less, semiautomatic weapons with a fixed magazine capacity of five rounds or less, semiautomatic weapons manufactured prior to 1954, semiautomatic weapons which use exclusively Mannlicher-style clips, and rimfire weapons that employ a tubular magazine;

2. Any short-barreled shotgun, as defined in Subdivision (c) of Section 12020 of the California Penal Code;

3. Any of the above generally and specifically described weapons which is a "machine gun" prohibited by California law (as presently defined and prohibited by Section 12200 of the Penal Code of the State of California); any pistol, revolver or other firearm which is capable of being concealed upon one's person, as defined and regulated by the provisions of Sections 12021 and 12025 of the Penal Code of the State of California.

4. Any assault weapon which is an antique or relic firearm, or other weapon, specified and subject to all the limitations and requirements in Paragraphs (5), (7), and (8) of Subdivision V of Section 12020 of the California Penal Code;

5. Any assault weapon which has been modified either to render it permanently inoperable or to make it permanently a device no longer defined as an assault weapon.

C. "Person" means any individual, corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, club or society.

D. "Semiautomatic" means any weapon which fires a single projectile for each single pull of the trigger and which employs a magazine/clip.

E. "Rifle" means a weapon, whether or not it is intended to be fired from the shoulder, that is designed or redesigned, made or remade to fire a fixed cartridge and is not a pistol", as defined in Section 12001 et seq. of the California Penal Code.

F. "Shotgun" means a weapon, whether or not it is intended to be fired from the shoulder, that is designed or redesigned, made or remade, to fire a fixed shotgun shell.

A. Except as specified in subsections B, C and D herein no person, including but not limited to wholesale and retail gun dealers, shall sell, offer or display for sale, give, lend or transfer ownership of, or possess any assault weapon.Any person who sells or possesses any assault weapon in the City of Monte Sereno in violation of this Section is guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person convicted of a misdemeanor under the provisions of this Chapter shall be punishable by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the County jail for a period of not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

B. Nothing in this Chapter shall prohibit the acquisition, possession, or disposition by police departments, sheriff's departments, marshal's offices, the California Highway Patrol, other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, or the military forces of this state or the military and naval forces of the United States for use in the discharge of their official duties, nor shall anything in this Chapter prohibit the possession of assault weapons or magazines therefor by any regular, salaried, full-time officer, employees or agents thereof when on duty.and the use of assault weapons is within the scope of their duties.

C. The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to the possession of any assault weapon when such possession is prohibited by the provisions of Section 12031 of the Penal Code of the State of California or Section 2010 of the Fish and Game Code of the State of California.

D. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A:

1. Any person who, prior to April 21, 1989, was legally in possession of a weapon prohibited by this Section or who subsequently obtains title to an assault weapon by bequest or intestate succession shall within thirty (30) days remove said assault weapon from within the incorporated area of the City of Monte Sereno, or transfer title and possession of the weapon to a dealer licensed pursuant to Article 4 of the State of (California Penal Code commencing at Section 12250, or to the City Police;

2. An assault weapon may be possessed by any federal, state, or local historical society, museum or institutional collection which is open to the public, provided any such weapon is properly housed, secured from unauthorized handling and is unloaded;

3. An assault weapon may be maintained in the possession of an entity or establishment engaged in the business of motion picture, television or video production, but only for the purpose of being utilized as a prop during the course of motion picture, television or video production by an authorized participant therein or by an authorized agent or employee of the entity or establishment, and only if the entity or establishment properly secures such assault weapon from unauthorized use.