Peace officers that possess short and long barrel rifles and shotguns in the course and scope of their duties are required by the Penal Code and/or Commission regulation to complete POST-certified courses of training in the use of these weapons.  The training requirement was enacted by the Legislature as part of Senate Bill 359 with an effective date of July 13, 1999 (Refer to Attachment A).   

The bill, among other things, revised the exemption in Penal Code section 12020(b) that allows peace officers to possess short-barrel rifles and shotguns and established the requirement that peace officers complete a course in the use of these weapons, certified by POST, in order to possess them.  Note: PC section 12020(b) was subsequently renumbered as section 33220(b).  

A review of available courses determined that there were no standardized courses that met this requirement.  The shotgun training requirement could be satisfied by completion of the standard format of the Regular Basic Course (RBC), Module II of the RBC – Modular Format, Reserve Module B or the Specialized Investigator’s Basic Course (SIBC).  However, rifle training was not included in any of the basic courses.   

In response to the training mandate, POST assembled a committee of subject matter experts (SMEs) to assist in the development of the necessary course.  Although the legislation only applied to short-barrel rifles and shotguns, it was the recommendation of the SME committee that the training requirement should also include long-barrel rifles and shotguns.  The rationale was that the competencies and safety factors addressed in the training would be the same, regardless of barrel length.  The committee’s work led to the development of a two-part training course – Part I for long/short barrel shotgun training (minimum of 16 hours) and Part II for long/short barrel rifle training (minimum of 16 hours).  The committee also recommended that completion of specified basic courses should be a prerequisite to attend the Part II Rifle Course.  

A staff report was developed and submitted to the Commission recommending that it approve the two-part course (including both long and short barrel rifles and shotguns).   On October 28, 1999, the Commission met, reviewed the report and approved the two-part course as an addition to Commission Regulation 1081 subject to the results of a Notice of Regulatory Action (Refer to Attachment B).  Following the close of the public comment period, the proposal was adopted and submitted to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) for review.  After approval by OAL, it immediately became effective under Title 11 Division 2 of the California Code of Regulations.  Such regulations have the effect of law.  

By approving the SME committee’s and staff recommendation to include long barrel rifles and shotguns in the training requirement, the Commission enhanced the mandate from the Legislature which only applied to short barrel firearms.  This resulted in a bifurcated training standard as follows:

• The training requirement for short barrel rifles and shotguns is a legislative mandate as delineated in Penal Code section 33220(b) and applies to peace officer members of a police department, sheriff’s office, marshal’s office, CHP, DOJ and CDCR (Refer to Attachment C).
• The training requirement for long barrel rifles and shotguns is a Commission requirement as delineated in Regulation 1081 and applies to peace officer members of agencies that participate in the POST program (Refer to Attachment D).

It should be noted that completion of the Part I Course meets the training requirement to possess both long and short barrel shotguns and completion of the Part II Course meets the training requirement to possess both long and short barrel rifles.  

Recent inquiries from the field have shown that among some agencies, there is a misunderstanding about and/or a lack of knowledge of the training requirement to possess rifles.  Members of staff have attended executive level meetings and met with training managers throughout the state in an attempt to clarify the training requirement.  Feedback from these meetings has brought up issues and concerns that can be categorized as follows: 

• Agencies have only provided training to personnel that carry short barrel rifles
• Agencies have deployed rifles in patrol units without providing training for their personnel
• Agencies have provided rifle training to their personnel but did not request POST certification for the courses
• Agencies have provided rifle training but did not document it
• Agencies have provided rifle training with a course length of less than 16 hours

The two-part course approved by the Commission is listed in Regulation 1081 under the following titles: 

• Shotgun Course - Part I -16 Hours [Long/Short Barrel, Penal Code section 33220(b)]
• Rifle Course - Part II - 16 Hours [Long/Short Barrel, Penal Code section 33220(b)]

Though the course titles specify “Long/Short Barrel”, there is apparently some confusion in the field because the Penal Code section cited in the title only covered short barrel rifles and shotguns and there was no reference to the Commission requirement.  The situation was compounded because the bulletin that announced the training requirement and courses referred to short barrel rifles and shotguns and also did not include the Commission requirement.  Additionally, the reference to rifle training under the Legislative Mandated Training Requirements on the POST website did not include the Commission requirement. This may have caused some agencies to conclude that there is no training requirement for peace officers to possess long barrel firearms in the course and scope of their duties.

It should be noted that while training to possess short barrel rifles and shotguns is required by the Penal Code and Commission regulation, the deployment of rifles is an agency decision and as such is not subject to review by the Commission.  Because the training is not a compliance issue, and therefore it is not tracked by POST staff in the annual compliance reviews, it should be thought of in the same context as other similar mandates (e.g. First Aid/CPR, Domestic Violence, Racial Profiling, etc.).  In all of these cases, unlike Continuing Professional Training and the Perishable Skills Program, there are no annual reminder by an area consultant.  Because the requirement dates from 1999 and due to the frequent turnover in staff at many agencies, particularly training managers, the resulting loss of corporate knowledge may have caused them to lose track of some training mandates.

Another possible reason for the apparent confusion and/or lack of knowledge about rifle training requirements is that, after a period of time, the mandates listed above were included in the Regular Basic Course (RBC) thus allowing newly appointed peace officers to meet the mandates during their basic training.  However, unlike the aforementioned mandates, rifle training has not been integrated into the RBC.  The primary reason for not including rifle training is that current regulation requires completion of the RBC as a prerequisite to taking the course.  However, there are additional factors that could preclude the mandatory inclusion of rifle training in the RBC.

• The inclusion of rifle training would require the addition of two days of training to the minimum hourly requirement for the RBC which could increase the cost of presenting the course for both POST and the academies.
• A survey of academies indicates that only 25% of them have received requests from local agencies to include rifle training in the RBC.
• Some academies have stated the cost of obtaining rifles for training is prohibitive.
• Some community college based academies have state they are prohibited from purchasing rifles due to legal restrictions.

Staff has taken a number of steps in an effort to enhance awareness of the legislative mandate and Commission action to clarify the training requirements.

• The Specialized Training Requirements segment of the Legislative Mandated Training requirements list on the POST website has been revised (Refer to Attachment E).
• The list of POST certified rifle courses was reviewed to determine which of them meets the training mandate.  The list included 236 courses and 33% met the minimum requirements for the mandate.  Staff will work with the presenters of those courses that do not meet the mandate to bring them into compliance.
• POST Bulletin #2015-16 was published on August 4, 2015 (Refer to Attachment F).
• A standard statement that better defines the training requirement will be added to the course description for all rifle courses that meet the mandate.
• A standardized outline and hourly distribution is available to agencies requesting to certify a 16 hour rifle training course (Refer to Attachment G).

Additionally, an agenda item titled Report on Revision to Commission Regulations 1005 and 1081 in Relation to Rifle and Shotgun Training requests approval of a revision to Regulations 1005 and 1081 that will more clearly define the training required to possess both long and short barrel rifles and shotguns.

Agencies have expressed a number of concerns related to the training requirements for rifles.  Some of the comments have been critical of actions taken by the Commission in response to the legislative mandate.  The recurring themes of the comments are as follows:

• The Commission made a mistake and/or exceeded its authority by extending the training requirement to include long barrel firearms and that agencies were not properly notified of the training mandate and the requirement that the training must be POST-certified.
• The cost of training (or retaining) their personnel to meet the requirement.
• Alternatives to completing the Rifle Course should be allowed.
• The Commission should consider rescinding the action taken in 1999 that includes long barrel rifles in the training requirement.

The committee that provided input on the development of the course included firearms subject matter experts and representatives of the Firearms Division of the Department of Justice and the Office of the Attorney General.  During the development process barrel length was taken into consideration; however, as trainers their focus was to develop a training program that required skill development and qualification with the firearms.  The Commission agreed with that recommendation and approved the training course.

Staff is committed to working with agencies in an effort to assist them in meeting the training mandate and will continue to review all currently certified courses to include analysis of the course outline, instructor resumes, hourly distribution and other documentation to bring them into compliance with Regulation 1081.  Priority will be given to requests for the certification of new rifle courses from agencies and training presenters.  Staff has also made recommendations to mitigate the cost of training.

To reverse the Commission's original action in October 1999, would eliminate the long-standing competency-based training requirement to possess long barrel rifles and shotguns.

Efforts to address this matter are consistent with POST Strategic Plan Goal B, Increase Efficiency in POST Systems and Operations.