California Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed legislation that will allow police and family members to seek the temporary seizure of firearms from persons deigned threats to themselves or others.
The bill, AB1014, was drafted in the wake of last May’s Isla Vista massacre near the University of California, Santa Barbara, campus that left seven young people dead, four from gunshots, including the assailant Elliot Rodger, who took his own life. Prior to the tragedy, Rodger’s family had alerted authorities to their son’s disturbed behavior, but relatives and police would later say they were unaware of Rodger’s weapons cache. Another bill, SB505, also signed into law Tuesday, will encourage law enforcement to make a weapons check part of the routine welfare check.
“If both of these laws had been in place on May 23, things could have been very different,” Rodger’s father, Peter Rodger, said in a statement, the Associated Press reported. “California, today, is a safer state because of this legislation. Let’s hope other states follow.”
Last month, the Glendale City Council, on a 4-1 vote, passed a resolution in support of AB1014. Mayor Zareh Sinanyan and Councilmembers Paula Devine, Laura Friedman and Dave Weaver voted in favor of the resolution. Councilmember Ara Najarian, who opposed the 2013 effort to effectively remove the Glendale Gun Show from the city-owned Glendale Civic Auditorium, cast the lone “no” vote.
Like the majority of the council, the Coalition for a Better Glendale was supportive of AB1014. The Coalition drafted a letter to Gov. Brown urging him to sign the bill.
“As parents, children, siblings, spouses, and concerned Americans, we join the growing number of Americans who wish to see sensible gun laws enacted that will help prevent further massacres from occurring in our neighborhoods, schools and communities,” the Coalition wrote.
The Coalition is pleased and encouraged by AB1014’s passage into law.
Coalition for a Better Glendale 