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Could California's Red Flag Law Have Prevented VTA Shooter From Owning Guns?

Publication: KTVU/Fox 2 News

Five years ago, the Department of Homeland Security investigated the now-dead VTA gunman Sam Cassidy, turning up noted about the hatred he had for workplace, but nothing was done. 

State Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) said that had that happened under state authority, Cassidy would have "more than qualified" for a gun violence restraining order.

Cassidy killed nine co-workers in San Jose on Tuesday morning.

He was heavily armed and also stored a bounty of ammunition in his home.

On Thursday, Ting said that California's red flag law sets up rules to get guns out of the hands of the wrong people.

"Well, the red flag law in California allows any law enforcement agency, whether you are a state or local agency, the ability to go to a court of law, ask them to temporarily take away that person's guns if they have deemed to be dangerous," Ting said.

Ting said the red flag law has been used to remove guns from people more than 3,000 times in the past three years.