AB 1955 (2026): Peace Officer Exemption to Firearm Enhancements

What the Bill Would Do

Assembly Bill 1955 (2025-2026) is a narrow measure, not a broad sentencing-reform bill^[1]. It proposed to amend Penal Code section 12022.53, the "10-20-life" firearm enhancement statute, to add a peace-officer exemption. Under the proposal, the firearm enhancements would not apply to a peace officer unless the use or discharge of the firearm did not arise out of and was not in the course of the officer's employment, and the prosecution would bear the burden of proving that exception by a preponderance of the evidence. The latest bill text does not amend Penal Code section 71.

What the Bill Does Not Do

AB 1955 does not reduce, repeal, or make retroactive the underlying firearm enhancements. The proposed peace-officer carve-out was not enacted. The existing 10-year, 20-year, and 25-years-to-life terms under PC 12022.53 remain subject to that statute's conditions and exceptions. The bill does not change the judicial discretion to strike enhancements that Senate Bill 620 (2017) already provides under PC 1385, and it creates no resentencing pathway for people who are currently incarcerated.

Background: California's Firearm Enhancements

Penal Code 12022.53 imposes consecutive additional prison terms for using a firearm in the commission of specified felonies: 10 years for personal use, 20 years for personal and intentional discharge, and 25 years to life for discharge causing great bodily injury or death. Additional firearm enhancements exist under PC 12022.5 (generally 3, 4, or 10 years for personal firearm use during a felony or attempted felony, subject to the element-of-offense limitation and its specified exceptions, with 5, 6, or 10 years for personal use of an assault weapon or machinegun) and PC 12022(a)(1) (principal armed: 1 year). Since Senate Bill 620 (2017), judges have had discretion to strike these enhancements in the interest of justice under PC 1385^[2]. AB 1955 proposed to leave that framework intact while adding the peace-officer exemption described above.

Current Status

AB 1955 did not pass in the 2025-26 session and is not law. Its last recorded action was cancellation of its second Assembly Public Safety Committee hearing at the author's request on March 18, 2026.