Bill Commons

CA AB 1488

dead

Self-defense.

California · 2025-2026 Regular Session · lower

Quick answers

Did CA AB 1488 pass?

No. CA AB 1488 did not pass — it was defeated or died in the legislative process (2026-02-02). Latest recorded action (2026-02-02): From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.

What is CA AB 1488 about?

Existing law authorizes a party about to be injured to lawfully resist the commission of a public offense and to use sufficient resistance to prevent the offense. Existing case law provides that, in order to justify an act of self-defense, an individual must have a reasonable belief that the threat is imminent, and limits the right of self-defense to the use of that force that is reasonable under the circumstances. This bill, the Preemptive Self Defense Act of 2025, would clarify that a party who reasonably perceives an imminent threat of bodily harm may make lawful resistance to the commission of a public offense and that the resistance authorized is required to be proportional to the reasonably perceived threat and to cease when the threat is no longer present. The bill would prohibit a party's background, training, and professional fighting skills from being taken into account when determining whether a party has taken reasonable defensive action. Existing law authorizes necessary force to be used to protect from wrongful injury the person or property of oneself, or of a spouse, child, parent, or other relative, or member of one's family, or of a ward, servant, master, or guest. This bill would also specify that there shall not be any civil liability on the part of, and no cause of action shall accrue against, a person who lawfully resists a public offense, as described above.

Who sponsors CA AB 1488?

Flora is the primary sponsor of CA AB 1488, joined by 1 cosponsor.

Description

Existing law authorizes a party about to be injured to lawfully resist the commission of a public offense and to use sufficient resistance to prevent the offense. Existing case law provides that, in order to justify an act of self-defense, an individual must have a reasonable belief that the threat is imminent, and limits the right of self-defense to the use of that force that is reasonable under the circumstances. This bill, the Preemptive Self Defense Act of 2025, would clarify that a party who reasonably perceives an imminent threat of bodily harm may make lawful resistance to the commission of a public offense and that the resistance authorized is required to be proportional to the reasonably perceived threat and to cease when the threat is no longer present. The bill would prohibit a party's background, training, and professional fighting skills from being taken into account when determining whether a party has taken reasonable defensive action. Existing law authorizes necessary force to be used to protect from wrongful injury the person or property of oneself, or of a spouse, child, parent, or other relative, or member of one's family, or of a ward, servant, master, or guest. This bill would also specify that there shall not be any civil liability on the part of, and no cause of action shall accrue against, a person who lawfully resists a public offense, as described above.

Introduced
2025-02-21
Latest action
2026-02-02 — From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Subjects

Sponsors

  • Floraauthor
  • Chenauthor

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

  1. 2025-02-21

    Introduced. To print.

    introduction

  2. 2025-02-22

    From printer. May be heard in committee March 24.

  3. 2025-02-24

    Read first time.

    reading-1

  4. 2025-03-24

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. Read second time and amended.

    amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee

  5. 2025-03-24

    Referred to Coms. on PUB. S. and JUD.

    referral-committee

  6. 2025-03-25

    Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.

    referral-committee

  7. 2025-04-08

    In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.

  8. 2025-04-22

    In committee: Set, second hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.

  9. 2026-01-30

    In committee: Set, final hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.

  10. 2026-01-31

    Died pursuant to Art. IV, Sec. 10(c) of the Constitution.

    failure

  11. 2026-02-02

    From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.

    committee-passage,failure

Versions

Documents

Votes

Not provided by source.

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1488

Attribution

Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T01:34:27.960412Z

Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:

Source and document changesStatus and relationship changes

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