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California Moves To Let Schools, Co-workers 'Red Flag' Dangerous Gun Owners

Publication: HuffPost

Lawmakers in the California Assembly voted Monday to advance a bill that would authorize employers, co-workers and school personnel to request the temporary confiscation of guns from individuals determined to pose a danger to themselves or others.

The legislation, AB 2888, would build on California’s existing “red flag” law, passed in 2014 following a deadly shooting spree in Isla Vista. The 22-year-old gunman in that case had reportedly exhibited a number of warning signs before killing six people, and then himself, in the rampage.

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The new bill would expand the list of people who can file for such restraining orders to include a subject’s employer and co-workers and the staff of a high school or college that the person has attended in the last six months.

“We’re grappling with this issue of gun violence as a nation,” bill sponsor Assemblyman Phil Ting (D) told HuffPost. “I’ve never said this is a panacea, but it’s just one of many solutions we have to offer.”

Expansion of Gun Violence Restraining Orders in California Approved by Assembly

Assemblymember Phil Ting Urges Lawmakers to Approve AB 2888Proposal is in response to mass school shooting in Parkland, FL

Under a bill by Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), more people would be allowed to petition a court for a Gun Violence Restraining Order (GVRO), which temporarily takes someone’s gun away if they pose a deadly threat to themselves and others. The California State Assembly approved AB 2888 today, which expands the list of people who can file for a GVRO to include school personnel, employers and co-workers. The vote on the floor was 48 to 25. Current state law allows immediate family members, roommates and law enforcement to file for a GVRO.

 “As we saw in the February massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, teachers and administrators saw early signs that the suspected gunman, a student, could be a threat,” said Ting. “We want to give schools in California another tool to prevent more campus tragedies, and I’m happy to see my Assembly colleagues agree.” Multiple news stories cited that acquaintances of the alleged shooter reported warning signs and were worried about his access to guns.

Lawmakers Take Steps to Expand Gun Restraining Order Law

Publication: NBC Los Angeles

California lawmakers took steps Monday to let school employees ask judges to temporarily strip gun rights from potentially dangerous people in the wake of a mass school shooting in Texas.

California is already one of a handful of states that allow immediate family members and law enforcement officials to request gun violence restraining orders against people who show warning signs of violence. Assemblyman Phil Ting's bill, AB2888, would extend that ability to more people, including school employees and co-workers.

Democratic lawmakers supporting the bill invoked the Friday shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas that killed 10.

"I ask that we don't just send thoughts and prayers, that we actually send some action to students and families who really are scratching their heads and wondering what we can do to stem the violence at our schools," Ting said.

Senator Wiener & Assemblymember Ting join Students, Legislators, Community Leaders to Announce New Bill to Prevent Gun Shows at the Cow Palace in Daly City

Senator Wiener & Assemblymember Ting join Students, Legislators, Community Leaders to Announce New Bill to Prevent Gun Shows at the Cow Palace in Daly CityDaly City –  Today Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) joined students, elected officials, and gun violence prevention advocates to announce a new effort to ban gun and ammunition sales at the Cow Palace, a state-owned venue located in Daly City. The Cow Palace hosts gun shows a few times a year, most recently in April of this year. At that event, a group of high school students protested the gun show in hopes of ending gun sales in their community. Student leaders from that protest joined the announcement today, which took place at the Bayshore Community Center in Daly City.

Senate Bill 221 will ban the sale of guns and ammunition at the Cow Palace. There is an exemption for gun buyback programs run by law enforcement, which are essential programs for removing guns from the community. Gun shows are only a small number of the events held at the Cow Palace, and the speakers at today’s press conference expressed their support for the Cow Palace and their hopes that the event space will continue to serve as a vital part of the local and Bay Area community.

California Starts Slowly on Seizing Unstable People’s Guns, But That Could Change

Publication: San Francisco Chronicle

The young man had posted his revenge fantasies online, writing about how he wanted to shoot classmates at his community college. The 21-year-old had recently bought a gun, his brother told police.

But UC Davis psychiatrist Amy Barnhorst said there was little she could do when police, fearing that the man posed a danger to the community, brought him to the Sacramento-area hospital where she works. He wasn’t mentally ill, she concluded, so he couldn’t be held involuntarily. And without such a diagnosis, and no evidence he’d committed a crime, police couldn’t take his gun away.

In those moments, Barnhorst says, she points frantic parents and concerned police to a 2-year-old law that allows them to petition a court to temporarily remove guns from someone if they pose a danger to themselves or others.

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There are efforts under way to expand the law. Skinner, the Berkeley senator who wrote the original bill, wants to eliminate court fees for immediate family members who apply for orders. Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, would expand the list of people who can seek the orders to include co-workers, employers, and public and private schoolteachers and other school workers.

The Legislature passed a bill similar to Ting’s AB2888 in 2016, but Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed it, saying it was too soon to expand a law that had just taken effect.

“Gun violence restraining orders have proven to be a tool that can be used to get guns out of the hands of the wrong people,” Ting said at a Capitol hearing last month. “We’ve seen, unfortunately, the devastating effects of mass shootings when guns are in the hands of the wrong people. This just merely expands it to the people who are around individuals the most, people you go to school with, it’s people who you work with.”

Assemblymember Ting's Statement on Governor Brown's May Revise

(Sacramento) -- Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, released the following statement about the May Revision of Governor Jerry Brown’s state budget proposal for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, which starts on July 1. The Assembly Budget Committee released a preliminary analysis of the proposal. Ting’s statement is as follows:

"With May Revise revenues higher than expected, our economy and job market are clearly healthy. In these times of prosperity, we need to make sure we bring all Californians along for the ride. I’m pleased to see the Governor prioritize emergency grants to local governments to address the state’s homeless crisis and look forward to working with the Administration to make sure the need is met.  However, more still needs to be done to expand health care to put us on the path towards universal coverage and ensure students have access to higher education that’s affordable, as prioritized by the Assembly. When we craft a spending plan that addresses these issues, we make our state stronger and build a brighter future with opportunity for all – while still saving for a rainy day. Whatever differences the governor and the Legislature have will get ironed out in the coming weeks. In the end, we will have a budget that moves California forward.”

Record Number of California Workers Have Claimed Their Earned Income Tax Credit

Record number of Californians Claim State Earned Income Tax CreditA record number of hard working individuals and families -- over 1.2 million -- have already claimed their earned CA Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC), an effective anti-poverty program in the state with the highest poverty rate in the nation. These numbers have tripled from last year and are expected to continue to rise given the credit can be claimed after tax day through the end of the year.  

“Record numbers of Californians are benefitting from the Earned Income Tax Credit thanks to the outreach efforts of government agencies and advocates like CalEITC4Me,” said Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood). “That means more money in the pockets of working families and more money going into local stores and businesses.

 

Senator Nancy Skinner and Assemblymember Phil Ting Showcase Homemade Solutions to the Housing Crisis

Senator Nancy Skinner and Assemblymember Phil Ting Showcase Homemade Solutions to the Housing Crisis Berkeley, California – Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) held a press conference this morning to show how one solution to the California housing crisis is available in our own homes and backyards. Standing in front of a backyard cottage in Berkeley, Skinner and Ting presented their respective bills, SB 1469 and AB 2890, to encourage the creation of Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADUs) and Junior ADUs (JADUs) as a cost-effective and efficient way to expand housing supply.

“Our neighborhoods are full of empty-nesters with room to spare and families for whom a little rental income could help make ends meet,” said Senator Skinner. “My bill, SB 1469, makes it even easier for those households to add a second or third small unit.”

“ADUs are one of the fastest ways to increase our housing supply here in the Bay Area where the rental market is tight,” said Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), author of AB 2890. “We need to eliminate as much of the remaining red tape as possible to spur widespread adoption.”

Assemblymembers Announce $1 Billion Investment in State’s Health Care System

Assemblymember Phil Ting discusses B proposal to improve California's health care systemSACRAMENTO–Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno), chair of the Budget Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, Assemblymember Jim Wood (D-Santa Rosa), chair of the Health Committee, and Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), chair of the Budget Committee, are pleased to announce a $1 billion investment to fund significant improvements in California’s health care system through the Assembly’s budget proposal.

By approving these actions prior to the May Revision—among the first major budget actions this year—Assembly Democrats are showing that improving the health care system is one of its key priorities. 

“Building on the 6 months’ work of the Assembly’s Select Committee on Health Care Delivery Systems and Universal Coverage, this funding package will be a major step forward in California taking the lead to expand coverage, increase access, address workforce capacity issues, improve accountability and transparency and make health care more affordable for the middle class,” said Arambula.