California Reserve Police Officers Seek to Carry Assault Rifles

A statewide reserve police officers association is seeking a court order to allow reserve officers to possess assault rifles, noting that one of its members was equipped only with a handgun when he responded to the Dec. 2 mass shooting carried out by a pair of home-grown terrorists in San Bernardino.

The California Reserve Peace Officers Association and reserve San Bernardino police Officer Martin Llanos filed the petition Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court against state Attorney General Kamala Harris and Stephen Lindley, chief of the California Department of Justice's Bureau of Firearms.

The plaintiffs maintain that reserve officers deserve the same exemption that full-time sworn peace officers have to possess assault rifles.

"Officer Llanos was one of the first responders in the recent terrorist incident in San Bernardino and was only armed with his duty handgun, clearly no match for the better equipped terrorists," the petition states.

After the Dec. 2 massacre of 14 people, the department and Chief Jarrod Burguan authorized Llanos to acquire an assault rifle for his patrol duties, the petition states. The SBPD has been unable to equip him with such a weapon because of budget problems, so Llanos bought one on his own, according to the petition.

However, the Bureau of Firearms recently rejected an assault rifle registration request from Llanos and other reserve officers, according to the CRPOA.

"Officer Llanos performs general law enforcement duties and the same functions as full-time SBPD police officers," the petition says.

David Beltran, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, released a statement saying the office "will review the lawsuit once we are served. However, the bureau's policy is consistent with California law. This is simply complying with state law, and the power to effectively change it lies with the Legislature."

The petition includes a copy of an April 29 letter Llanos received from the BOF rejecting his assault rifle registration application.

"We have found no clear statutory authority to support the proposition that a reserve officer may purchase one for his or her own use," the letter states. Llanos was directed to either render his weapon inoperable or turn it over to a law enforcement agency.

A copy of Llanos' registration application also is attached to the petition. It states that the 43-year-old Apple Valley resident acquired the assault rifle on Feb. 23 at a business in Huntington Beach.

The petition seeks a court order finding that reserve police officers are covered by the same exemption that allows regular peace officers to possess assault rifles and that the BOF be directed to register Llanos' weapon.

--City News Service; Image via Shutterstock