California law prohibits some people from possessing firearms.
State law also regulates carrying unloaded rifles and shotguns in public.
Police say Grenham was ultimately found hiding in the backyard of a nearby residence. The shotgun he allegedly threw was recovered and found to be unloaded, per the same post from police.
California Firearm Laws
Santa Rosa Police describe Grenham as a convicted felon who is legally prohibited from possessing firearms, which is why the recovered shotgun became the centerpiece of the case against him. He was booked into Sonoma County Jail on four separate charges tied to the encounter, the department's post states.
Those charges include Penal Code 29800(a)(1), felon in possession of a firearm, and Penal Code 26400(a), carrying an unloaded non-handgun in public. He was also booked on Penal Code 148(a)(1), resisting or obstructing arrest, stemming from his alleged flight from the officer, and Health and Safety Code 11364(a), possession of drug paraphernalia.
California has a broader state effort to track firearms held by people who become legally prohibited from possessing them after acquiring guns. California’s Armed and Prohibited Persons System identifies people who legally obtained firearms but later became prohibited and did not relinquish them. In its 2025 annual report, the state Department of Justice said the program aided in seizing 1,437 firearms and removing 10,746 people from the prohibited-persons list; those statewide figures do not indicate whether Grenham was tracked by the system. The DOJ’s 2025 report summary describes the program and its results.
California law treats felony convictions as a basis for a lifetime firearm prohibition in many cases, though the exact restriction can depend on the conviction and any restoration of rights. Separately, Penal Code 26400 covers carrying an unloaded rifle or shotgun on a person outside a vehicle in an incorporated city, with statutory exceptions. The statute includes exceptions, and the law's application depends on the circumstances. The state attorney general’s overview of firearm prohibitions and the text of Penal Code 26400 outline those rules.
