LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The California chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, issued the following statement after the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to move forward with raising awareness of the state’s Extreme Risk law and improving access to Gun Violence Restraining Orders (GVRO), which help prevent firearm access for those who have shown warning signs of being a danger to themselves or others. The vote comes months after the board voted to tackle gun violence following the mass shooting in Monterey Park earlier this year.
“Making sure more people know about Gun Violence Restraining Orders is critical to ensure this life-saving tool can be used effectively to prevent a person in crisis from harming themself or others with a firearm,” said Mia Livas Porter, a volunteer with the California chapter of Moms Demand Action. “It’s vital for leaders from all levels of government to come together and tackle gun violence as our city continues to be torn apart by this public health crisis. We thank our supervisors for their action today and look forward to continuing to work together to end gun violence in Los Angeles.”
In 2016, California passed an Extreme Risk law giving key community members a way to intervene before warning signs become tragedies. These laws allow immediate family members, law enforcement, and other specific groups to petition a court for a GVRO for the temporary removal of guns from dangerous situations. Today’s vote seeks to raise awareness of GVROs as state data has indicated that this life-saving tool is underutilized in Los Angeles County. According to county data in 2022, a total of only 66 GVROs were granted countywide, and only one of those was requested by a non-law enforcement party – in contrast San Diego County, issued more than 400 GVROs in the same timespan despite having a much smaller population.
In an average year, 3,253 people die by guns in California, the 6th lowest gun death rate in the country. Statistics about gun violence in California are available here, and Everytown’s Gun Law Rankings – which shows California’s gun laws are the strongest in the country – is available here.
