(a) Article 1 (commencing with Section 27500) does not apply to any sale, delivery, or transfer of firearms made to, or the importation of firearms by, an authorized law enforcement representative of any city, county, city and county, or state, or of the federal government, for exclusive use by that governmental agency if, prior to the sale, delivery, transfer, or importation of these firearms, written authorization from the head of the agency authorizing the transaction is presented to the person from whom the purchase, delivery, or transfer is being made or from whom the firearm is being imported.

(b) Proper written authorization is defined as verifiable written certification from the head of the agency by which the purchaser or transferee is employed, identifying the employee as an individual authorized to conduct the transaction, and authorizing the transaction for the exclusive use of the agency by which that person is employed.

(c) Within 10 days of the date a firearm is acquired by the agency, a record of the same shall be entered as an institutional weapon into the Automated Firearms System (AFS) via the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS) by the law enforcement or state agency. Any agency without access to the AFS shall arrange with the sheriff of the county in which the agency is located to input this information via this system.

(d) Any agency that is the registered owner of an institutional weapon in accordance with subdivision (c) that subsequently destroys that weapon shall enter information that the weapon has been destroyed into the Automated Firearms System (AFS) via the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS) within 10 days of the destruction in accordance with procedures prescribed by the Department of Justice. Any agency without access to the AFS shall arrange with the sheriff of the county in which the agency is located to input this information via this system.

(Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 878, Sec. 6. (AB 1609) Effective January 1, 2015.)