LEOs & H.R. 218 Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act

[mAdbRaIn]

Can someone please clarify HR 218 (The Law Enforcemnt Officers Safety Act).
I copied and pasted the URLs below from the CA DOJ website.

This is the actual law.

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=108_cong_bills&docid=f:h218enr.txt.pdf

any machinegun any firearm silencer any destructive device

http://ag.ca.gov/firearms/forms/pdf/leosiss.pdf

It states this:
Can an active officer carry ? How about aretired law enforcement officer?
Yes(active) - unless it is a machinegun or destructive device. An active officer can qualify with a pistol and carry an assault weapon. Doing so may violate departmental policy, though. Technically, a retired officer may carry anythingthat he can lawfully possess that is of a type of firearm with which he can qualify(other than a machinegun or destructive device).

Please, clarify this law. I'm not too familiar with CA Law, so I was wondering if you all would help me out by interpreting the law.

[xenophobe]

As far as I know in California...

If you're active LE, you can carry any handgun you desire, off-duty.

EDIT: It appears as long as you are active LE or retired w 15+ years of service, you can keep a loaded AW with you as long as it is not against department regulations. I would assume that the personal AW would have to be registered, although the opinion you post does not address this...

[jmlivingston]

One bit of caution, if you're an out-of-state LEO that's here visiting. That law does not specifically permit the importation of magazines with a capacity greater than 10 rounds.....

John

[mAdbRaIn]

I understand the importation of high capacity mags are illegal. My question is the legality of LEOs possessing Assault weapons as stated in HR 218. It says that LEOs are permitted to possessing any firearm that is not:

‘‘(e) As used in this section, the term ‘firearm’ does not include—
‘‘(1) any machinegun (as defined in section 5845 of the
National Firearms Act);
‘‘(2) any firearm silencer (as defined in section 921 of this
title); and
‘‘(3) any destructive device

And according to CADOJs interpretation it states the following:

Can an active officer carry “any” firearm/assault weapon off-duty? How about a retired law enforcement officer?

Yes(active) - unless it is a machinegun or destructive device. An active officer can qualify with a pistol and carry an assault weapon. Doing so may violate departmental policy, though. Technically, a retired officer may carry anything that he can lawfully possess that is of a type of firearm with which he can qualify (other than a machinegun or destructive device).

It doesn't state anything about a Letterhead from your agency. That is what has me confused and wondering what do they mean? It's in their website and they don't mention anything about a letterhead.

CLick the link below:

http://ag.ca.gov/firearms/forms/pdf/leosiss.pdf

Any LEOs out there with information about HR 218? I would like to know your departments policy in regards to HR 218. I wonder if California Law supercedes FEDERAL LAW? ANYWAYS, THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR OPINIONS! I know it's a confusing subject, but I really appreciate all your help in clearing up this mess. If you know of any additional information in regards to the matter, please reply.