Is the use of a firearm an element of the crime?

Use of a firearm is an element of the offense only if it is "an essential component of the legal definition of the crime considered in the abstract." (People v. Read (1983) 142 Cal.App.3d 900, 903, 191 Cal.Rptr. 305, italics added.) In that case, it was specifically held that "firearm use is not an element of the offense of ... manslaughter and the Legislature

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Read has also been followed in People v. Zamora (1991) 230 Cal.App.3d 1627, 1636, 282 Cal.Rptr. 100: "The phrase 'element of the offense' has a settled meaning in California law, i.e., an essential component of the legal definition of the crime considered in the abstract. [Citation.]." ⁷