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.  The training requirement was enacted by the Legislature as part of Senate Bill 359, which amended Penal Code section 12020(b), effective July 13, 1999.   

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).   

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 approved the course as an addition to Commission Regulation 1081, subject to the results of a Notice of Regulatory Action. Following a public comment period, the training requirement was reviewed and approved by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL).  Notice of the legislative mandate and related Commission action was provided to the field by a POST Bulletin.  

By approving the SME committee’s 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.   
• 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. 

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.   

As a result of the misunderstanding and/or lack of awareness, some agencies have:

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

Some of the misunderstanding may be related to the bifurcated training standard.  Even though the wording “Long/Short Barrel” is part of the titles of the Part I and II courses, the Penal Code section cited in the title only refers to short barrel rifles and shotguns and there is no reference to the Commission requirement.  This may have caused some agencies to conclude that there is no training requirement for peace officers that possess long barrel firearms in the course and scope of their duties.  However, other agencies indicated they were unaware of the legislative mandate or denied knowledge of the requirement that the training must be POST-certified.  The agenda item titled Report on Commission Regulation 1081 in Relation to Rifle and Shotgun Training provides additional detail on possible reasons for the apparent confusion and lack of knowledge on this issue.  

Staff has taken a number of steps in an effort to enhance awareness of the legislative mandate and Commission action and clarify the training requirements.  As part of this effort staff is proposing revisions to Commission Regulations 1005 and 1081.   The proposed revisions to Regulations 1005 and 1081 are intended to more clearly define the training required to possess rifles and shotguns.   

The revision to Regulation 1005 Minimum Standards for Training would add the long barrel training requirement to the regulation that specifies basic and in-service training for peace officers.  The revision to Regulation 1081  Minimum Standards for Legislatively Mandated Courses would provide better descriptions of both courses, eliminate the prerequisite of completion of specified basic courses prior to attending the Rifle Course and provide a reference to the long barrel training requirement in Regulation 1005 (Refer to Attachment A).  

This agenda items reflects staff effort to implement POST Strategic Plan Goal B, Increase Efficiency in POST Systems and Operations.