A gunman killed 12 at Borderline. Now, state legislators are taking another swing at gun laws

In the wake of the Borderline shooting in Thousand Oaks, state and local officials have looked to legislative changes to find a way to better protect the community.

Officials say they don't know if any would have prevented the Nov. 7, 2018, shooting that left 12 people dead. But they hope it could stop another from happening.

"Many of us in the community feel that this tragedy really is driving us to try to do something to prevent this in the future," said Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin, D-Thousand Oaks.

She has proposed a series of bills related to gun violence prevention. Among them, two specifically focus on gun violence restraining orders, which were first allowed in the state in 2016.

Relatively few were issued in the first couple years of the law, though numbers rose in 2018.

"It's basically looking at what the tools are that law enforcement has already and how they could be better utilized or more utilized to remove guns from people who should not have them," Irwin said.

The law allows families and police to petition the court to remove someone's firearms or prevent them from buying new guns when there are warning signs of a threat.

A gun violence restraining order could be used in situations when people did not meet the strict criteria for involuntary detention, sometimes called a 5150 hold. 

Lawmakers OK'd the bill after a 2014 shooting that killed six people in Isla Vista near UC Santa Barbara. Some believed such a measure could have prevented the killings. 

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'No mention of a gun'

In April 2018, deputies had been called to the home of the 28-year-old Borderline gunman because of a disturbance. Then-Sheriff Geoff Dean has said the man was “somewhat irate and acting irrationally."

Mental health specialists were called and responded to the home but decided not to pull him in for further observation under a 5150 hold, said Dean, who has since retired.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office also did not seek a gun violence restraining order at the time and said one wasn't warranted.

"In this case, there was nothing to support it, no mention of a gun, he had not threatened any violence toward anybody," Sheriff Bill Ayub said in a recent interview with The Star.

Statewide, 190 gun violence restraining orders were obtained in 2016-17. That number had tripled by the end of the 2018.

The California Department of Justice reported 424 gun violence restraining orders were obtained statewide last year. More than 40 percent were in just one county – San Diego.

In Ventura County, 12 were issued in 2018, up from three in 2017 and one in 2016.

Among Irwin's proposals, Assembly Bill 339 would require law enforcement agencies to develop policies regarding the use of gun violence restraining orders and to get input from mental health professionals and others in the community.

Assembly Bill 12 would have allowed police to get a search warrant at the same time they got the gun violence restraining order.

The law already allowed for search warrants to be issued in such cases. But AB 12 sought to make the process more efficient and also reduce the chance someone could use or hide the firearms before police returned with a search warrant.

But that was removed from the bill because of concerns by some Assembly members, Irwin said.

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DA's Office supports effort

Another part of the proposed legislation would give a judge the discretion to extend the time of the order from one to five years in some cases. That's still part of the bill that passed the Assembly in April.

The National Rifle Association opposed AB 12, saying it would "promote the denial of civil liberties" while not addressing the underlying cause, according to a legislative analysis.

Others disagreed, including the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, a sponsor of the bill.

"I don't view this as an unreasonable restriction on the rights of the Second Amendment," said District Attorney Greg Totten. "I think it is a very measured, responsible proposal to address gun violence."

Gun violence restraining orders were one of the legislative changes discussed by a task force responding to concerns that arose out of the Borderline shooting, Totten said.

“I wouldn’t want to suggest that this legislation would have prevented the Borderline shooting,” he said. “But I think it is the type of legislation that could prevent future shootings.”

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San Diego leads state

San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott made gun violence restraining orders a priority when she took office at the end of 2016. Her office has obtained 152 since late 2017.

Of the first 100 obtained, about 40 percent of the cases related to family violence, relationship violence or stalking, according to her office. About one-fourth of the orders removed guns from people threatening suicide and 14 from people who threatened violence in the workplace or at a school.

With state funding, the city attorney's office has started training other agencies throughout California. One of the sessions will be held in Ventura this week.

The District Attorney's Office is sending staff, and officers from Port Hueneme, Oxnard and Ventura are scheduled to attend.

Meanwhile, legislators continue to debate bills in Sacramento. The Assembly passed AB 12 in April and the bill has headed to the Senate.

The Assembly appropriations committee passed AB 339 last week and it's headed for a vote on the Assembly floor.

Staff writer Kathleen Wilson contributed to this report.

Cheri Carlson covers the environment for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at cheri.carlson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0260.