Skip to main content

California Gun Confiscations Increase Sharply Under Restraining-Order Law

Publication: San Francisco Chronicle

California police sharply increased gun confiscations last year from people considered to be a danger to themselves or others, state Justice Department figures show.

Law enforcement agencies seized the weapons from people who were subject to gun violence restraining orders, under a law that had been lightly used in its first two years on the books.

...

Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, said he is disappointed that his home city has not used the gun violence orders more. The first and only one issued in San Francisco came last year; Santa Clara County obtained 31 in 2018.

Ting has reintroduced legislation this session to give co-workers and school officials the ability to seek the court orders. Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed two similar bills, but Ting sees a new opportunity given Gov. Gavin Newsom’s expressed interest in expanding gun control.