BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2607
Page 1
GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB
2607 (Ting)
As Enrolled June 30, 2016
2/3 vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Public Safety |4-2 |Jones-Sawyer, Lopez, |Melendez, Lackey |
| | |Low, Santiago | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Expands the individuals who are eligible to petition
for a gun violence restraining order (GVRO). Specifically, this
bill:
1)Allows an employer, a coworker, a mental health worker who has
seen a person as a patient in the prior six months, an
employee of a secondary or postsecondary school that a person
has attended in the last six months, to file a petition
requesting that the court issue an ex parte GVRO enjoining the
subject of the petition from having in his or her custody or
control, owning, purchasing, possessing, or receiving a
firearm or ammunition.
2)Allows an employer, a coworker, a mental health worker who has
seen a person as a patient in the prior six months, an
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employee of a secondary or postsecondary school that a person
has attended in the last six months, to file a petition
requesting that the court issue a GVRO after notice and a
hearing enjoining a person from having in his or her custody
or control, owning, purchasing, or receiving a firearm or
ammunition.
3)Allows an employer, a coworker, a mental health worker who has
seen a person as a patient in the prior six months, an
employee of a secondary or postsecondary school that a person
has attended in the last six months, to request a renewal of a
GVRO at any time within the three months before the expiration
of such an order.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Defines a "gun violence restraining order" as "an order, in
writing, signed by the court, prohibiting and enjoining a
named person from having in his or her custody or control,
owning, purchasing, possessing, or receiving any firearms or
ammunition."
2)Requires the court to notify the Department of Justice (DOJ)
when a GVRO is issued, renewed, dissolved, or terminated.
3)Prohibits a person that is subject to a GVRO from having in
his or her custody any firearms or ammunition while the order
is in effect.
4)Requires the court to order the restrained person to surrender
all firearms and ammunition in his or her control.
5)Allows law enforcement to seek a temporary GVRO if the officer
asserts, and the court finds, that there is reasonable cause
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to believe the following:
a) The subject of the petition poses an immediate and
present danger of causing injury to himself or another by
possessing a firearm; and,
b) The emergency GVRO is necessary to prevent personal
injury to the subject of the order or another because less
restrictive alternatives have been tried and been
ineffective or have been determined to be inadequate under
the circumstances.
6)Allows an immediate family member or law enforcement officer
to file a petition requesting that the court issue an ex parte
GVRO enjoining a person from having in his or her custody or
control, owning, purchasing, or receiving a firearm or
ammunition.
7)Defines "immediate family member" as specified.
8)Allows a court to issue an ex parte GVRO if an affidavit, made
in writing and signed by the petitioner under oath, or an oral
statement, and any additional information provided to the
court on a showing of good cause that the subject of the
petition poses a significant risk of personal injury to
himself, herself, or another by having under his or her
custody and control, owning, purchasing, possessing, or
receiving a firearm as determined by balancing specified
factors.
9)Requires a law enforcement officer to serve the ex parte GVRO
on the restrained person, if the restrained person can
reasonably be located. When serving a gun violence
restraining order, the law enforcement officer shall inform
the restrained person that he or she is entitled to a hearing
and provide the restrained person with a form to request a
hearing.
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10)Allows the restrained person who owns a firearm or ammunition
that is in the custody of a law enforcement agency pursuant to
this subdivision, if the firearm is an otherwise legal
firearm, and the restrained person otherwise has right to
title of the firearm, to sell or transfer title of the firearm
to a licensed dealer.
11)Entitles the restrained person to a hearing to determine the
validity of the order within 21 days after the date on the
order.
12)Allows an immediate family member or law enforcement officer
to file a petition requesting that the court issue a GVRO
after notice and a hearing enjoining a person from having in
his or her custody or control, owning, purchasing, or
receiving a firearm or ammunition.
13)States that at the hearing, the petitioner has the burden of
proof, which is to establish by clear and convincing evidence
that the person poses a significant danger of causing personal
injury to himself, herself, or another by having under his or
her custody and control, owning, purchasing, possessing, or
receiving a firearm.
14)Allows a restrained person to file one written request for a
hearing to terminate the order.
15)Allows a request for renewal of a GVRO.
16)States that every person who files a petition for an ex parte
gun violence restraining order or a gun violence restraining
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order issued after notice and a hearing, knowing the
information in the petition to be false or with the intent to
harass, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
17)States that every person who violates an ex parte gun
violence restraining order or a gun violence restraining order
issued after notice and a hearing, is guilty of a misdemeanor
and shall be prohibited from having under his or her custody
and control, owning, purchasing, possessing, or receiving, or
attempting to purchase or receive, a firearm or ammunition for
a five-year period, to commence upon the expiration of the
existing gun violence restraining order.
FISCAL EFFECT: None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS: According to the author, "Family members, co-workers,
employers, teachers, and mental health workers are the most
likely to see early warning signs if someone is becoming a
danger to themselves or others. In these circumstances,
existing law enables family members and law enforcement to
prevent gun-related tragedies before they happen by pursuing a
gun violence restraining order (GVRO) in court. If granted by a
court, a GVRO results in a temporary seizure of firearms
possessed by the dangerous individual and a prohibition of their
ability to purchase new firearms. AB 2607 logically expands who
can petition a court for a GVRO by adding co-workers, employers,
teachers, and mental health workers."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
AB 2607
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GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE:
I am returning Assembly Bill 2607 without my signature.
This bill expands the list of individuals who are authorized to
petition for a gun violence restraining order.
In 2014, I signed Assembly Bill 1014 which allowed immediate
family members and members of law enforcement to petition for a
gun violence restraining order. That law took effect on January
1, 2016, so at this point it would be premature to enact a
further expansion.
Analysis Prepared by:
Sandy Uribe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN:
0003703