Landmark 2016 law to fight gun violence scarcely used
Two weeks after a alleged gunman in Parkland, Fla., zigzagged from one classroom to another in his former high school, killing 17 people, a Beverly Hills High employee dialed 911 to report a stranger mumbling to himself and following her as she left campus.
Police confiscated a loaded handgun in the man’s glove box and arrested him. But they felt compelled to do more. What if he was a copycat killer inspired by the Parkland shooting and obtained another gun after posting bail? Beverly Hills officers decided to try something they’d never done before and persuaded a judge to temporarily bar the man from having guns.
It was a successful use of a legal tool that proponents believe will help reduce gun violence as more members of the public and law enforcement learn about it.
In 2016, California became the first state in the nation to allow family members, roommates and police officers to ask a judge to block individuals believed to be dangerous from having firearms for up to a year. The legislation followed a 2014 mass shooting in Isla Vista, near UC Santa Barbara. Relatives of the gunman, Elliot Rodger, had previously alerted authorities to his potential danger.
But so far, the gun violence restraining orders have been rarely used. Fewer than 200 were issued across the state during the law’s first two years on the books, according to the state Department of Justice. With 32, Los Angeles County had the most, but some smaller counties, such as Santa Barbara and San Diego, had higher rates for their size with 21 and 18, respectively. Several counties had none.
Gun rights advocates say there are other ways to flag unstable individuals to the police and argue the law violates the 2nd Amendment and due process rights.
As it stands, with so few orders issued, supporters recognize an urgency to better promote the law if it is to have a widescale effect.
Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer, who held a news conference in 2016 touting the measure as a life-saving tool and vowing to fight for its success, acknowledged the low numbers.
“The paucity of (orders) here in Los Angeles leads me to believe additional training will be very helpful,” he said. His office has led two educational sessions about the tool and helped with a website that offers instructions on how to obtain a restraining order. He also recently contacted Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore and Los Angeles School Police Chief Steve Zipperman about doing in-person training sessions with officers.
Awareness is key, agreed Santa Clara County Supervising Deputy Dist. Atty. Marisa McKeown, one of the state’s leading experts on the restraining orders.
“It’s underutilized,” she said.
While big money goes into passing legislation, there’s often less capital put toward educating the public once it becomes law, McKeown said.
Even members of law enforcement struggle to keep up with the state’s evolving gun laws. McKeown learned about the gun restraining orders by chance in 2016, after receiving an urgent call from a police investigator in Campbell, a city southwest of San Jose. Authorities there had received a tip about a man with a truck full of guns who was driving toward his job at an auto shop. Police had reviewed text messages the man sent soon after a sniper killed five Dallas police officers. In one message, the man said to “watch the news,” adding that he planned to do “worse” with his guns.
“I want to do a gun restraining order thing,” the officer told McKeown.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she responded. “Google it,” the officer said. The prosecutor hung up and began to research. There was a new law, she realized, and this seemed the perfect opportunity to use it.
After the man was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and his eight guns, including an AR-15-style rifle, were seized using a restraining order, McKeown become a crusader, leading informational sessions for police agencies across Santa Clara County.