City Attorney Mike Feuer was joined by gun violence survivors and family members of victims on Thursday to discuss a new state law that allows judges to take firearms away from individuals considered likely to commit violent acts.
Under California's Gun Violence Restraining Order, which went into effect this year, family members or law enforcement officials are now able to petition a judge for a "gun violence restraining order'' to disarm individuals who are a risk to others, according to Feuer.
The press conference comes just two days after leaders from across the nation joined President Obama as he announced his executive action on gun violence. Feur called Obama's announcement as a "call to action for all of us throughout the nation."
He also described key steps in the law, which will include assembling and training a panel of pro-bono lawyers in Los Angeles and across the state to help families implement the law, working with LAPD to create protocols and working with a national coalition to use law as template for reform on gun violence across the U.S.
The City Attorney was joined by Bob Weiss, the father of a woman killed in a shooting spree in Isla Vista in Santa Barbara, and Pat Maisch, who intervened in a gunman's attempt to reload during a shooting in Tucson, Arizona, that injured a congresswoman and left six people dead.
Feuer was also joined by Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence.
The law is modeled after domestic-violence restraining orders, with requests considered on a case-by-case basis through formal hearings and facts submitted to a judge.
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The law is to be relied on in situations in which friends or relatives know that a person poses a violent risk.
Supporters say the law could have helped in the shooting at Isla Vista, in which the parents of a gunman previously tried to warn law enforcement that their son could hurt others or himself.
