Existing law generally makes it a felony for any person, firm, or corporation to possess a silencer within this state. Existing law exempts from that prohibition the sale to, purchase by, or possession by certain law enforcement agencies of a silencer for use in the discharge of their official duties, or possession by peace officers employed by those law enforcement agencies.
This bill would make the crime of possessing a silencer inapplicable to the sale to, purchase by, or possession by the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the possession by peace officers employed by those agencies, or the sale or other transfer in interstate or foreign commerce by registered dealers or manufacturers when the sale or other transfer is in accordance with
federal law.