Is a convicted sex offender prohibited from possessing a firearm under section 12021 of the California Criminal Code?

section 12021 is to protect the public by banning possession of firearms by those who are more likely to use them for improper purposes. (People v. Pepper (1996) 41 Cal.App.4th 1029, 1037.) A felon who possesses multiple weapons that can be used for multiple purposes is inherently more dangerous than a felon with a single firearm he possesses for a single objective. His firepower and dangerousness, and thus his culpability, increase with each additional firearm he possesses. (See People v. Perez (1979) 23 Cal.3d 545, 553 ["A defendant who attempts to achieve sexual gratification by committing a number of base criminal acts on his victim is substantially more culpable than a defendant who commits only one such act"].)