Amended  IN  Senate  February 25, 2025

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 93

Introduced by Senator Weber Pierson

January 22, 2025

An act to add Section 18722 to the Penal Code, relating to weapons.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 93, as amended, Weber Pierson. Weapons: robotic devices.
Existing law makes it a crime to possess a destructive device. Existing law makes it a felony to possess material with the intent to make a destructive device or explosive without obtaining a permit to do so.

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to regulate robotic devices equipped with weapons.

This bill would prohibit a person from operating a robotic device, as defined, equipped or mounted with a weapon, as defined. The bill would make a violation an infraction punishable by a fine of at least $100 but not more than $2,000. The bill would exclude specified persons, including a government official acting within the scope of their employment and a person acting within the scope of their employment by an organization that is researching, developing, testing, or manufacturing the robotic device for government use. By creating a new infraction, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NOYES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 18722 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

18722.
 (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Robot competition” means an event or instruction organized and supervised by an educational institution, summer camp, sports league, television or film entertainment company, or similar organization, and as to which reasonable safety precautions have been taken to protect participants, event staff, and spectators.
(2) “Robotic device” means a mechanical device capable of locomotion, navigation, flight, or movement and that operates at a distance from its operator or supervisor based on commands or in response to sensor data, or a combination of those, including mobile robots, unmanned ground vehicles, and unmanned aircraft.
(3) “Weapon” means a device specifically designed to threaten or cause death, incapacitation, or great bodily injury to a person, including, but not limited to, stun guns, firearms, machineguns, chemical agents or irritants, kinetic impact projectiles, weaponized lasers, flamethrowers, and explosive devices.
(b) It shall be unlawful for a person to operate a robotic device equipped or mounted with a weapon.
(c) A violation of this section is an infraction punishable by a fine of at least one hundred dollars ($100) but not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000).
(d) This section shall not apply to any of the following:
(1) A person acting within the scope of that person’s employment by an organization that is researching, developing, testing, or manufacturing the robotic device for government use.
(2) (A) A person operating a nonautonomous robotic device designed and built specifically for the purpose of participating in a robot competition and equipped with weapons typically used for that purpose.
(B) This paragraph does not allow the equipping or mounting of any firearm to a robotic device.
(3) A person engaged in the operation of a blank-firing weapon and the weapon’s respective attachments, when that person is authorized or permitted to acquire and possess these weapons or attachments for use solely as props for a motion picture, television, or digital video production or entertainment event.
(4) A person operating a robotic device when engaged in academic research concerning the robotic device at an institution of higher learning located in California, and as to which reasonable safety precautions have been taken to protect the institution’s students, faculty, staff, and visitors.
(5) A member, agent, officer, or employee of a federal, state, or local agency who is acting within the scope of that membership, agency, office, or employment.
(e) This section does not in any way sanction, authorize, prohibit, or regulate the procurement or operation of a robotic device by any governmental entity.

SEC. 2.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.
SECTION 1.

It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to regulate robotic devices equipped with weapons.