Can a defendant be convicted and sentenced for unlawful possession of a firearm and illegal possession of ammunition?

punishment for the separate, simultaneous possession of different items of contraband when the possession of one item is not essential to the possession of the other item. (People v. Jones, supra, 54 Cal.4th at p. 358.)

People v. Lopez (2004) 119 Cal.App.4th 132 (Lopez), upon which Pradd relies, is inapposite. In Lopez, the defendant was convicted and sentenced for unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition based upon a pat down search which revealed a loaded gun in the defendant's pocket. (Id. at pp. 135, 137.) The appellate court ordered the sentence stayed for the unlawful ammunition possession conviction, reasoning: "While there may be instances when multiple punishment is lawful for possession of a firearm and ammunition, the instant case is not one of them. Where, as here, all of the ammunition is loaded into the firearm, an 'indivisible course of conduct' is present and [Penal Code] section 654 precludes multiple punishment." (Id. at p. 138, italics added.)

Unlike the defendant in the Lopez case, Pradd possessed a large cache of ammunition apart from the ammunition loaded into the handgun. The possession of the additional ammunition was not essential to the possession of the handgun. Thus, Penal Code section 654 does not preclude punishment for possession of the additional ammunition. (People v. Jones, supra, 54 Cal.4th at p. 358.)