County improves gun surrender process

“Abusers must now prove to the judge that they have turned in their firearms and ammunition upon the entry of an (protective) injunction,” Myers said Monday morning at the Orange County Domestic Violence Commission, a group that reconvened after an almost three-year hiatus.

State law requires anyone under a protective injunction, a civil order issued after a court hearing on allegations of domestic violence or stalking that prohibits personal contact, to surrender any firearms or ammunition — however, enforcing that portion of the order has been difficult, Myers said.

But after months of coordination and education, all Orange County judges are now requiring receipts from accused domestic abusers that their guns have been safely turned over to law enforcement or sold to a certified third-party, Myers said.

Orange County Judge Alice Blackwell, co-chair of the commission, said that before this structured process was in place, abusers could easily give their guns to an uncle or friend, so they were technically not in possession of their guns — but the weapons were still accessible. She said this new process streamlines judges’ ability to determine what guns exist and where they are, and to hold abusers accountable.

“Judges now gather information about guns in the home, and those judges check in both with the survivor and the abuser about the location of any firearms or ammunition,” Myers said.

Dick Batchelor, co-chair of the