Governor Signs Inland Lawmaker's Bill to Preserve Gun Rights

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By City News Service

A Riverside County lawmaker’s bill securing the gun ownership rights of individuals under restraining orders was signed into law Thursday by the governor.

Assembly Bill 950, sponsored by Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, permits an individual named in a gun violence restraining order to transfer his or her firearms and ammunition to a licensed federal firearms dealer for safekeeping until the order has lapsed.

Gun violence restraining orders currently require listed parties to surrender their guns and ammo to local law enforcement or sell them.

“Today we witnessed a rare victory for gun owners across California,” Melendez said. “By allowing a trustworthy alternative for gun owners to maintain possession of their firearms, we are preventing any unjustified gun grab against those who may be unfairly targeted by bogus allegations.

“I am honored that bipartisanship prevailed and my colleagues, the governor and I were all able to agree on the importance of protecting the Second Amendment.”

AB 950 replicates what already is available to people under standard restraining orders. Gun violence restraining orders are a product of legislation enacted last year -- AB 1014 -- authored by Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Oakland.

Melendez said earlier this year that she was disconcerted the “the government could seize an individual’s guns without probable cause.”

A person may be subject to a gun violence restraining order if it’s determined that he or she “poses a significant danger of personal injury to himself or herself, or another, by having in his or her custody or control, owning, purchasing, possessing, receiving a firearm or ammunition,” according to existing law.

Individuals against whom gun violence restraining orders are filed have the right to a court hearing within 21 days of the filing to contest the allegations of the petitioner, who has the burden of showing that the person is a veritable threat, the law stipulates.

Melendez’s bill, which takes effect Jan. 1, had the support of the National Rifle Association, California Rifle & Pistol Association, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.