Santa Barbara County supervisors have officially thrown their support behind gun violence legislation introduced by state Assemblyman Das Williams (D-Santa Barbara) in the wake of May’s tragic Isla Vista shooting.
During the board’s regular July 1 meeting, supervisors voted 4-0 to support Assembly Bill 1014. Abstaining from the vote was 5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino, who said he didn’t want to attach his name to legislation that could be changed during committee hearings.
The bill would establish a sort of gun restraining order. It would allow concerned family members and friends to alert law enforcement when a loved one is perceived to have the potential to commit violence, and enable authorities to investigate and possibly prevent them from buying firearms. Williams added that all determinations would ultimately be up to the judicial system to decide.
Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley spoke to supervisors during the public comment portion of the hearing, saying she wasn’t an expert on the bill but she did know something about families and violence.
“This kind of temporary restraining order and the processes built into this gun violence law make sense to me as a district attorney,” she said at the meeting.
Though 4th District Supervisor Peter Adam did support the bill, he said it made him a little queasy inside. After reading the bill from start to finish, he said he wasn’t finding much to disagree with.
“There are times where I really think that the authorities have to have a way to deal with people … a way to take arms away from people who shouldn’t have them,” Adam said. “It’s with some trepidation and reluctance that I support this.”
This article appears in Jul 3-10, 2014.