By Robert Phillips  
Deputy District Attorney (ret.)  

Second Amendment Update: Possession of a controlled substance while armed and carrying an unregistered firearm   

Defendant Joshua Paul Allen got caught sitting in his car with a loaded firearm in his belt and methamphetamine elsewhere in his car. Convicted of possession of a controlled substance while armed with a firearm (H&S Code § 11370.1(a)) and possessing an unregistered and loaded firearm while in a vehicle (Pen. Code § 25850(a) & (c)), Allen challenged the constitutionality of both of these offenses in light of the United States Supreme Court decision in N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022) 597 U.S. [213 L.Ed.2nd 387; 142 S.Ct. 2111].  

The Fourth District Court of Appeal (Div. 2, Riverside) rejected Allen’s arguments in the published decision of People v. Allen (Oct. 17, 2023) 96 Cal.App.5th 573.   

First, agreeing with its own 2022 decision of People v. Gonzalez, 75 Cal.App.5th 907, 912–916, the court held that the Second Amendment protects the rights of responsible, law-abiding citizens only to possess firearms for the purpose of protecting their home.   

This does not include the right to illegally carry a firearm in vehicles. This rule, per the court, remains good law after the Bruen decision, where it was held that the Second Amendment protects “law-abiding citizens only” and does not protect a right to carry a gun while simultaneously engaging in criminal conduct.   

As for the charge of possessing an unregistered firearm in a vehicle, the Riverside court concluded that Allen’s challenge failed because Bruen also did not invalidate all firearm registration schemes, and defendant neither argued otherwise nor that California’s firearm registration regime is invalid.   

The court therefore upheld the defendant’s conviction on both charges.