What is the effect of section 4502 of the California Penal Code on the right to possess an assault weapon?

The purpose of section 4502 is to protect inmates and officers from attacks by armed prisoners. This is because the "very existence of the weapons inevitably invites their use on other inmates and correctional officers. That is why our statutes prohibiting such possession by prisoners have always been construed to be absolute, and to permit no defense based on a claim of protection against future attack." (People v. Velasquez (1984) 158 Cal.App.3d 418, 422.) This purpose would be frustrated if inmates were

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