Action #1 – Sign this petition to stop gunshows at the VC Fairgrounds
Five gun shows are hosted every year at the Ventura County Fairgrounds, a state-owned property which is owned and managed by a division of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Each show features hundreds of tables where firearms are bought, sold, and traded. The gun shows are also marketed to children — admission free for children under age 12.
A network of anti-gun activists, concerned about the influence that billboard marketing and the gun shows have on our communities, has asked the Ventura County Fairgrounds board to stop hosting gun shows and profiting from the proliferation of guns and ammunition. Sign the petition here.
Action #2 – Email a letter to support AB 12 – “Firearms: gun violence restraining orders” by Rep. Jacqui Irwin.
A.B. 12, a new bill in our CA legislature, streamlines and expands the use of Gun Violence Restraining Orders (GVROs), which allow police to remove weapons from people considered to be an immediate danger to themselves or others. It would help end the dangerous delay between seeking a GVRO and the actual issuance of that order — time a gun owner currently can use to hide, lend or sell his weapons. The bill also would provide additional training and other resources to law enforcement to help them better understand and implement GVROs.
It’s currently in the Assembly’s Committee on Public Safety and there will be some adjustments to meet the ACLU’s concern that people of color might be disproportionately affected. Irwin and her staff believe that letters in support — particularly from those in communities affected by the Borderline shooting and other recent tragedies would help its passage through the Committee.
Sample Letter:
The Honorable Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr.
Assembly Committee on Public Safety
1020 N Street, Room 111
Sacramento, California 95814
Re: AB 12 (Irwin): Firearms: gun violence restraining orders – SUPPORT
Chair Jones-Sawyer,
I am pleased to support AB 12 by Assemblymember Irwin.
[Mix up wording from here on…]
AB 12 includes a number of changes to Gun Violence Restraining Orders (GVROs) that I believe will make them a more effective and efficient tool for law enforcement and families throughout the state.
The bill includes important clarifications that will allow more consistent application of the orders, as jurisdictions begin to issue more orders as law enforcement and the public become more aware of their availability to those in dangerous situations. Being able to quickly disarm an individual who poses a danger to himself or others is of critical importance. With firearms out of the equation, communities across the state can hopefully prevent the loss of more family members, friends, and neighbors to gun violence.
[Include one or two of these policy-specific options]
- The search warrant provision of AB 12 will streamline the efforts of law enforcement, and is similar to the statutes of other states. By allowing a judge to issue a GVRO and a search warrant at the same time, law enforcement will be able to stop a restrained individual from concealing or using firearms after an order is served.
- Extending the duration of the gun violence restraining order (after notice and a hearing) from one to five years, and thereby eliminating the need for hearings to gain extensions, will lessen the law’s impact on families, law enforcement, and the courts. The bill ensures a restrained person still has the ability to petition for restoration of the right to possess a firearm, but does so with a more balanced approach.
- By clarifying that restrained individuals will not have 24 hours to sell or transfer firearms after an emergency temporary order is served, AB 12 will help those implementing GVROs avoid deadly misinterpretations. An individual whose possession of a firearm has been found by the court to be an immediate and present danger should not be able to possess that firearm for an additional 24 hours after service of a GVRO.
I strongly urge you and the other members of the Assembly Public Safety Committee to support AB 12.
Sincerely,
[Name]
Cc: The Honorable Jacqui Irwin, Author
Members, Assembly Committee on Public Safety
When you’re finished… EMAIL LETTER TO:
Brandon Bjerke, office of Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin:
Brandon.Bjerke@asm.ca.gov/
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 