(SACRAMENTO, CA) – Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a bill authored by Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) to prevent gun tragedies at schools and workplaces, locations where most mass shootings occur.
Assembly Bill (AB) 2607 passed the State Senate 21-14 yesterday, following a 41-37 vote in the State Assembly earlier this month. It was one of 12 gun safety bills the Legislature sent to the Governor yesterday and one of 5 vetoed today.
“All of us have a right to live without the fear of getting shot,” said Ting. “Gun tragedies have become routine and we need to focus more on the people who commit gun violence. The public needs peaceful tools to protect themselves and their loved ones. Sometimes, people crack and become a danger to themselves or others. Preventing these situations from escalating into gun tragedies is a worthy cause we must continue to pursue.”
Parents, educators, gun safety advocates, and the LGBT community supported AB 2607. It would have allowed employers, coworkers, mental health workers, and high school or university educators to request a gun violence restraining order (GVRO) with the court. Modeled after domestic violence retraining orders, the GVRO temporarily prohibits persons a court deems a danger to themselves or others from possessing or purchasing a gun or ammunition.
The GVRO was created to prevent gun violence after college students were murdered in 2014 by a fellow student who took his own life, near Santa Barbara. Currently, only law enforcement and family members can pursue a GVRO, which is intended to prevent significant danger in the near future. It requires a hearing for judicial review of a written affidavit submitted by the family member seeking the GVRO that must outline clear and convincing evidence that the individual poses a danger to themselves or others by virtue of possessing guns and ammunition. This order lasts for up to one year unless renewed or revoked by a court. In situations with immediate and present danger, law enforcement is also able to obtain an emergency GVRO any time day or night and a warrant to seize guns and ammunition. A family member may also request a temporary order which operates like an emergency GVRO. Both expire after 21 days.
An individual subject to a GVRO may appeal the court to overturn it. Anyone who files a GVRO with false information or the intent to harass is guilty of a misdemeanor.
An FBI study of active shooter incidents between 2000-2013 found that 70 percent occurred at either a business or educational environment. Since 2013, according to Every Town for Gun Safety, 188 school shootings have occurred across the United States. In 2014, according to the most recent data from the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, 307 people were intentionally shot and killed at work. This exceeds the number of people killed at work by fires and explosions, getting caught in running equipment or machinery, or exposed to harmful substances.