Attorney General Bonta Honors a Decade of the Gun Violence Restraining Order, Unveils Tools to Help More Communities Use the GVRO to Prevent Shootings

SACRAMENTO — Marking 10 years since California’s Gun Violence Restraining Order (GVRO) law took effect in 2016, California Attorney General Bonta today announced the release of four new publications and resources focused on supporting the use and implementation of the GVRO to prevent mass shootings and other gun violence incidents. In the past decade, this law has become a national model for similar “red flag” or “extreme risk protection order” laws adopted in 20 other states. The GVRO process empowers law enforcement, family members, and other eligible community members to proactively prevent gun violence by presenting evidence to a court that another person poses a significant danger of harming themselves or others with firearms. If the court receives sufficient evidence of dangerousness and necessity, the court may issue an order that suspends the individual’s ability to keep, possess, and acquire firearms and related items, and prevents them from passing firearm-related background checks for a temporary period.  

“I was proud to be an original cosponsor of the bill that established California's Gun Violence Restraining Order law,” said Attorney General Bonta. “That legislation was introduced within one week of a mass shooting that devastated the UC Santa Barbara community, committed by a young man who was eligible to purchase firearms despite significant warning signs of dangerousness. The GVRO was championed by law enforcement, violence prevention experts, and especially by grieving parents fighting to create this safety intervention that could have kept their children safe and free from violence. As we mark 10 years since the GVRO first took effect, we are publishing data showing how far we have come, and we are publishing recommendations, model policies, and comprehensive training resources to ensure more jurisdictions have the information and support they need to effectively utilize this process to protect public safety.” 

"We have a fundamental responsibility to keep our communities safe — and with California's nation-leading gun safety laws — we are doing just that," said Governor Gavin Newsom. "Gun violence restraining orders are part of our charge, ensuring that when there are warning signs, families and law enforcement can save lives and prevent tragedy before it ever happens. Thank you to the Attorney General for his work in this space to ensure our state keeps stepping up to protect our overall public safety." 

In April 2014, a worried mother and her son’s counselor asked police to check on her son in Isla Vista, California, after he posted disturbing videos and stopped answering her calls. The young man had a history of isolation, angry outbursts, and disturbing fantasies that frightened friends and roommates who warned he was “a ticking time bomb” and that they feared for their safety. However, because he had no criminal record, had not been involuntarily admitted to a mental health facility for dangerousness, and had no other record that disqualified him from passing background checks, he was legally able to purchase three firearms and large amounts of ammunition. Weeks later, in May 2014, he carried out a violent attack near the University of California, Santa Barbara, killing six people and injuring fourteen others. Among the shooting victims were Veronika, a bright 19-year-old freshman known for her kindness and humor; Katie, an art history major weeks away from graduating who was known as the caring “mama bear” of her sorority; and Christopher, a generous 20-year-old student who had spent his final day volunteering at a beach cleanup. Their families were left devastated and from their grief came advocacy. Their voices helped lead to the creation of the GVRO, a law allowing family members, law enforcement, and others to ask a court to temporarily intervene to address dangerous individuals’ access to firearms when they show clear warning signs of gun violence or suicide.

California DOJ’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention published the following four GVRO publications and resources today:

1. A Model GVRO Policy for California Law Enforcement Agencies. This Model GVRO Policy includes comprehensive guidance about the GVRO process, including information about the types of circumstances in which officers should consider requesting GVROs or other safety interventions; the types of evidence courts may consider in GVRO cases; and the process required to obtain, document, serve, and enforce all three types of GVROs.  
2. An Information Bulletin advising law enforcement agencies, city attorneys, and county counsel about two laws — Assembly Bills 2621 (Gabriel) and 451 (Petre-Norris) — that require law enforcement agencies to update their written policies and procedures related to GVROs and other firearm-prohibiting court protection and restraining orders. The Model GVRO Policy is designed to help law enforcement agencies effectively comply with this mandate to prepare officers to navigate all aspects of the GVRO process.
3. A GVRO 10-Year Progress Report: Data and Recommendations for Improved Implementation. Marking 10 years since California’s GVRO law first took effect in 2016, this report analyzes data and research on the GVRO to assess our state’s progress and leading challenges with implementing the GVRO to prevent gun violence. The report provides demographic and trends data about GVROs issued in our state and the successful impact of local GVRO programs. It also documents significantly increased utilization of this process since 2021 and identifies three priority recommendations for improving implementation of the GVRO. A central recommendation is for law enforcement agencies to designate GVRO coordinators and develop streamlined processes for city attorneys, county counsel, or other legal counsel to advise and represent law enforcement agency petitioners in GVRO matters, especially for managing the court form filing and hearing process to obtain longer-term GVROs that last for up to five years instead of expiring within 21 days. 
4. A GVRO Implementation Guide. This resource provides a comprehensive desk reference guide to the GVRO process. It includes explanatory background, GVRO process flow charts, and best practice checklists to help law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders navigate common barriers, develop GVRO cases informed by behavioral threat assessment strategies, evaluate additional and alternative safety interventions to address dangerous firearm access when targeted victims are in danger, and successfully request, serve, document, and enforce GVROs to protect public safety.

California DOJ's Office of Gun Violence Prevention has developed these GVRO resources to help law enforcement and their legal counsel comply with new mandates to update and improve GVRO policies and procedures, to ensure that officers in every jurisdiction can successfully navigate this process when necessary to address significant dangers to human life and safety. The Office encourages communities around the state to assess their implementation needs and take a proactive role in supporting education about the GVRO and other court protection orders to prevent gun violence.