CALCRIM No. 3147. Personally Used Firearm: Assault Weapon, Machine Gun, or .50 BMG Rifle (Pen. Code, § 12022.5(b))
Judicial Council of California Criminal Jury Instructions (2024 edition)
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3147.Personally Used Firearm: Assault Weapon, Machine Gun, or
.50 BMG Rifle (Pen. Code, § 12022.5(b))
If you find the defendant guilty of the crime[s] charged in Count[s]
[,] [or of attempting to commit (that/those) crime[s]][ or the
lesser crime[s] of <insert name[s] of alleged lesser
offense[s]>], you must then decide whether[, for each crime,] the People
have proved the additional allegation that the defendant personally used
(an assault weapon/a machine gun/a .50 BMG rifle) during the
commission [or attempted commission] of that crime. [You must decide
whether the People have proved this allegation for each crime and
return a separate finding for each crime.]
[(A/An) <insert type of weapon from Pen. Code, § 30510 or
description from § 30515> is an assault weapon.]
[A machine gun is any weapon that (shoots[,]/ [or] is designed to shoot[,]/
[or] can readily be restored to shoot) automatically more than one shot
by a single function of the trigger and without manual reloading.] [(A/
An) <insert name of weapon deemed by the federal Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms as readily convertible to a machine gun> is
[also] a machine gun.]
[A .50 BMG rifle is a center fire rifle that can fire a .50 BMG cartridge
[and that is not an assault weapon or a machine gun]. A .50 BMG
cartridge is a cartridge that is designed and intended to be fired from a
center fire rifle and that has all three of the following characteristics:
1. The overall length is 5.54 inches from the base to the tip of the
bullet;
2. The bullet diameter for the cartridge is from .510 to, and
including, .511 inch;
AND
3. The case base diameter for the cartridge is from .800 inch to, and
including, .804 inch.]
[The term (assault weapon/machine gun/.50 BMG rifle) is defined in
another instruction.]
[(An assault weapon/A machine gun/A .50 BMG rifle) does not need to
be in working order if it was designed to shoot and appears capable of
shooting.] [(An assault weapon/A machine gun/A .50 BMG rifle) does not
need to be loaded.]
Someone personally uses (an assault weapon/a machine gun/a .50 BMG
rifle) if he or she [knows or reasonably should know that the weapon has
858
characteristics that make it (an assault weapon/a machine gun/a .50
BMG rifle) and] intentionally does any of the following:
1. Displays the (assault weapon/machine gun/.50 BMG rifle) in a
menacing manner;
2. Hits someone with the (assault weapon/machine gun/.50 BMG
rifle);
OR
3. Fires the (assault weapon/machine gun/.50 BMG rifle).
<If there is an issue in the case over whether the defendant used the weapon
“during the commission of” the offense, see Bench Notes.>
The People have the burden of proving each allegation beyond a
reasonable doubt. If the People have not met this burden, you must find
that the allegation has not been proved.
New January 2006; Revised February 2012
BENCH NOTES
Instructional Duty
The court has a sua sponte duty to give this instruction defining the elements of the
enhancement. (Apprendi v. New Jersey (2000) 530 U.S. 466, 490 [120 S.Ct. 2348,
147 L.Ed.2d 435].)
The Supreme Court has held that for the crime of possession of an assault weapon,
the prosecution must prove that the defendant knew or reasonably should have
known that the weapon possessed the characteristics of an assault weapon. (In re
Jorge M. (2000) 23 Cal.4th 866, 887 [98 Cal.Rptr.2d 466, 4 P.3d 297].) It is unclear
if this holding applies to an enhancement for using an assault weapon. In the
definition of “personally uses,” the court may give the bracketed phrase that begins
“knows or reasonably should know” at its discretion.
The court should give the bracketed definition of “assault weapon” or “machine
gun” unless the court has already given the definition in other instructions. In such
cases, the court may give the bracketed sentence stating that the term is defined
elsewhere.
If the case involves an issue of whether the defendant used the weapon “during the
commission of” the offense, the court may give CALCRIM No. 3261, While
Committing a Felony: Defined - Escape Rule. (See People v. Jones (2001) 25
Cal.4th 98, 109 [104 Cal.Rptr.2d 753, 18 P.3d 674]; People v. Masbruch (1996) 13
Cal.4th 1001, 1014 [55 Cal.Rptr.2d 760, 920 P.2d 705]; People v. Taylor (1995) 32
Cal.App.4th 578, 582 [38 Cal.Rptr.2d 127].)
AUTHORITY
• Enhancement. Pen. Code, § 12022.5(b).
ENHANCEMENTS AND SENTENCING FACTORS CALCRIM No. 3147
859
• Assault Weapon Defined. Pen. Code, §§ 30510, 30515.
• Machine Gun Defined. Pen. Code, § 16880.
• .50 BMG Rifle Defined. Pen. Code, § 30530.
• Knowledge Required for Assault Weapon Possession. In re Jorge M. (2000) 23
Cal.4th 866, 887 [98 Cal.Rptr.2d 466, 4 P.3d 297].
• Firearm Need Not Be Operable. People v. Nelums (1982) 31 Cal.3d 355, 360
[182 Cal.Rptr. 515, 644 P.2d 201]; see also Pen. Code, § 12022.53(b).
• Firearm Need Not Be Loaded. See People v. Steele (1991) 235 Cal.App.3d 788,
791-795 [286 Cal.Rptr. 887]; see also Pen. Code, § 12022.53(b).
• Personally Uses. People v. Bland (1995) 10 Cal.4th 991, 997 [43 Cal.Rptr.2d 77,
898 P.2d 391]; People v. Johnson (1995) 38 Cal.App.4th 1315, 1319-1320 [45
Cal.Rptr.2d 602]; see also Pen. Code, § 1203.06(b)(2).
• “During Commission of” Felony. People v. Jones (2001) 25 Cal.4th 98, 109-110
[104 Cal.Rptr.2d 753, 18 P.3d 674]; People v. Masbruch (1996) 13 Cal.4th 1001,
1014 [55 Cal.Rptr.2d 760, 920 P.2d 705]; People v. Taylor (1995) 32
Cal.App.4th 578, 582 [38 Cal.Rptr.2d 127].
• May Not Receive Enhancement for Both Using and Being Armed With One
Weapon. People v. Wischemann (1979) 94 Cal.App.3d 162, 175-176 [156
Cal.Rptr. 386].
RELATED ISSUES
See the Related Issues sections of CALCRIM No. 3145, Personally Used Deadly
Weapon, and CALCRIM No. 3146, Personally Used Firearm.
SECONDARY SOURCES
3 Witkin & Epstein, California Criminal Law (4th ed. 2012) Punishment, §§ 356,
358-369.
5 Witkin & Epstein, California Criminal Law (4th ed. 2012) Criminal Trial, § 727.
5 Millman, Sevilla & Tarlow, California Criminal Defense Practice, Ch. 91,
Sentencing, § 91.30[1] (Matthew Bender).
CALCRIM No. 3147 ENHANCEMENTS AND SENTENCING FACTORS
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© Judicial Council of California.
