Commonly, a person may be arrested at the airport after a TSA screener detects and locates one of the illegal weapons in a person’s luggage or checked packages or bag. A Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney can properly advise and guide individuals charged with wepons offenses in order to avoid serious consequences, alternative resolutions such as diversion, reductions and dismissals are all possible with a lawyer. The law in the area is complex, the most common type of crime charged is codified as follows:
California Penal Code § 12020. Manufacture, importation, sale, possession;
(a) Any person in this state who does any of the following is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison:
(1) Manufactures or causes to be manufactured, imports into the state, keeps for sale, or offers or exposes for sale, or who gives, lends, or possesses any cane gun or wallet gun, any undetectable firearm, any firearm which is not immediately recognizable as a firearm, any camouflaging firearm container, any ammunition which contains or consists of any fléchette dart, any bullet containing or carrying an explosive agent, any ballistic knife, any multiburst
trigger activator, any nunchaku, any short–barreled shotgun, any short–barreled rifle, any metal knuckles, any belt buckle knife, any leaded cane, any zip gun, any shuriken, any unconventional pistol, any lipstick case knife, any cane sword, any shobi–zue, any air gauge knife, any writing pen knife, any metal military practice handgrenade or metal replica handgrenade, or any instrument or weapon of the kind commonly known as a blackjack, slungshot, billy, sandclub, sap, or sandbag.
The Los Angeles District Attorney and the local prosecutorial agencies such as Long Beach, Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena all have very strict enforcement policies regarding the enforcement of California criminal laws relating to the possession of illegal weapons. The law makes the offense either a felony or a misdemeanor. Often, a local criminal defense attorney can step in an convince the prosecutor to file the case as a misdemeanor which spares the defendant the possibility of being regarded as a convicted felon.
The most common situation is where a person forgets they have a gun or other weapon in their luggage. The TSA takes weapons possession at an airport very seriously. The consequences of possession of a gun, firearms or other weapons can be very severe.
If you were arrested at LAX Airport For Possession of a Weapon or any other offense, Matthew Ruff can help.
