Firearms Defense Attorney
Firearms Defense at the Burbank Courthouse
Arrested? Charged with a crime? CALL NOW 866-713-2159
Most firearm charges in California are wobblers, meaning they can be filed as either a misdemeanor or a felony. In Burbank that decision carries extra weight, because two different prosecuting agencies handle criminal filings here and only one of them can file a felony at all. Which office ends up with your report shapes everything that follows. A Burbank gun crime attorney who understands that split can sometimes influence it before charges are ever filed.
TWO PROSECUTORS, TWO VERY DIFFERENT OUTCOMES
Burbank is one of a small number of cities in Los Angeles County with its own criminal prosecutor, and that changes how firearm cases move.
- The Burbank City Attorney's Office files misdemeanors. Its Prosecution Unit handles state misdemeanors committed in the city. A brandishing charge under Penal Code 417, a misdemeanor concealed carry count, or an airport weapons charge typically lands here.
- The Los Angeles County District Attorney files felonies. Burbank felonies are reviewed and filed by Deputy District Attorneys working out of the Glendale branch, which is why a Burbank felony often carries a Glendale case number even though your hearings happen locally.
Both are heard at the Burbank Courthouse at 300 East Olive Avenue, a small building with only a few criminal departments. Felony matters set for trial may be transferred elsewhere in the county.
Here is why this matters more than it sounds. When police submit a firearm report, nobody has decided yet whether it becomes a felony or a misdemeanor. Persuading the District Attorney to decline a felony filing, so the matter goes to the City Attorney as a misdemeanor instead, is one of the most valuable things that can happen in a gun case. It also has to happen early, before the complaint is filed.
HOW GUN CHARGES COME UP IN BURBANK
Two patterns show up here that do not show up elsewhere in the county.
Hollywood Burbank Airport. TSA screeners find firearms in carry-on bags regularly, and almost always the traveler forgot it was in there. That does not end the matter. Penal Code 171.5 makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly possess a firearm past the security checkpoint, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, and prosecutors may add concealed carry or loaded firearm counts on top. The word doing the work in that statute is "knowingly," and a genuinely forgotten firearm is a defense worth building carefully.
Production work. Burbank is a studio town, and prop firearms are governed by their own rules. Property masters and armorers need an Entertainment Firearms Permit issued by the California Department of Justice under Penal Code 29500, and California tightened set safety requirements further in recent years. Permit lapses, transport between a prop house and a set, and blank-firing weapons in a vehicle all create exposure for people doing legitimate work.
The ordinary situations arise here too: a firearm found in a center console during a traffic stop on Olive or Victory, an inherited gun discovered during a move, a heated argument outside a bar where someone says a weapon was displayed.
FIREARM CHARGES WE DEFEND
- Carrying a concealed firearm, Penal Code 25400
- Carrying a loaded firearm in public, Penal Code 25850
- Brandishing a firearm, Penal Code 417
- Weapons in a sterile airport area, Penal Code 171.5
- Assault with a firearm, Penal Code 245(a)(2)
- Assault with a deadly weapon, Penal Code 245(a)(1)
- Firearm possession by a person with a prior felony conviction, Penal Code 29800
- Possession of an unregistered assault weapon, Penal Code 30605
- Negligent discharge of a firearm, Penal Code 246.3
- Possession of a large-capacity magazine, Penal Code 32310
- Possession of prohibited weapons, including switchblades and brass knuckles, Penal Code 16590
HOW ENHANCEMENTS CHANGE THE SENTENCE
When a firearm is involved in a felony, California adds time on top of the sentence for the underlying offense. Which enhancement applies depends on the charge and on what you are alleged to have done with the gun.
- Penal Code 12022 adds one year for being armed during a felony, even if the weapon was never used.
- Penal Code 12022.5 adds 3, 4, or 10 years for personally using a firearm during a felony.
- Penal Code 12022.53, the 10-20-life law, applies only to a specific list of serious felonies such as robbery and carjacking. It adds 10 years for personal use, 20 years for intentionally discharging the weapon, and 25 years to life if that discharge causes great bodily injury or death.
These run consecutively, stacking on top of the base sentence. There is one meaningful opening: since Senate Bill 620, a judge has discretion to strike a firearm enhancement in the interest of justice. Building the record that supports striking it starts long before sentencing.
PENALTIES YOU COULD FACE
- Carrying a concealed or loaded firearm: up to one year in county jail as a misdemeanor, up to three years if filed as a felony
- Brandishing a firearm: up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000
- Weapons at an airport checkpoint: up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000
- Assault with a firearm: up to four years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000
- Firearm possession after a felony conviction: up to three years in prison
- Large-capacity magazine offenses: up to one year as a misdemeanor, up to three years as a felony
WHAT A CONVICTION COSTS AFTER THE SENTENCE
- Your firearm rights. A felony conviction means a lifetime prohibition in California. Certain misdemeanors carry a ten-year ban.
- Your immigration status. Firearm offenses are deportable under federal law, including for lawful permanent residents.
- Your professional license. Licensing boards are notified, and in the entertainment industry a weapons conviction can end permit eligibility outright.
- Employment and housing. Background checks flag firearm convictions, and studio and production employers screen closely.
- Custody arrangements. A weapons conviction gives the other parent something concrete to build a modification request around.
DEFENSES TO GUN CHARGES
- The search was unlawful. Most of these cases start with a vehicle or home search. If officers lacked a lawful basis, a motion to suppress under Penal Code 1538.5 removes the firearm from evidence, which usually ends the prosecution.
- You did not knowingly possess it. The prosecution has to prove both knowledge and control. A gun in a borrowed car, a shared residence, or a bag packed by someone else is not automatically yours.
- You were transporting it lawfully. California permits an unloaded handgun to be carried in a locked container in a vehicle. Whether the container qualified is frequently the entire dispute.
- You acted in self-defense. A reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury can justify displaying or using a firearm.
- The discharge was accidental. Several firearm offenses require intent to fire.
- You were entrapped. Police cannot pressure someone into conduct they had no intention of engaging in.
CONTACT A BURBANK GUN CRIME ATTORNEY
Cyrus S. Tabibnia has been licensed in California since 2005 and appears regularly in Los Angeles County criminal courts. You work with him directly rather than an associate, and he speaks English, Persian, and Spanish.
If police took a firearm and told you the case is being submitted for filing, that is the moment to call. The filing decision has not been made yet, and it is the one most worth fighting over.
