• U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) announced that his legislation—the Extreme Risk Order Protection Act—will be voted on in the U.S. House of Representatives sometime between June 6 and 9, according to the congressman’s office. The legislation—which has more than 100 co-sponsors in the House and a companion bill led by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California)—would adopt red flag laws to allow for the temporary removal of firearms from a person who may pose a danger to others or themselves. The legislation could also prevent them from purchasing a firearm. “In so many school shootings, from Parkland to Sandy Hook and Columbine to last week’s tragedy in Uvalde, there have been stark warning signs that red flag laws could have helped intervene and prevent these unspeakable tragedies. These laws have been shown in my home state of California to take guns away from violent individuals, saving lives,” Carbajal said in a statement on June 1. “These laws can prevent mass shootings, reduce suicides, disarm extremists, and protect our communities. That is why I have pushed for my bill to expand and improve use of these emergency measures—and am excited to see the House vote on it next week.”
• Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office released statistics about California’s gun safety policies and rankings among the nation for seeking solutions to gun violence. According to a June 2 statement from the Newsom administration, the Giffords Law Center ranks California No. 1 for gun safety and says the state has a 37 percent lower gun death rate than the national average. The Centers for Disease Control stated that California’s gun death rate was the 44th lowest in the nation, with 8.5 gun deaths per 100,000 people—compared to 13.7 deaths per 100,000 nationally. “From 1993 to 2017, California’s firearm mortality rate declined by 55 percent—almost four times the decrease in the rest of the nation. Many of California’s most important firearm laws went into effect in the early 1990s. As California continued to enact strong firearm laws, its firearm death rate continued to decline,” according to Newsom’s office. The statement cited Brady California—an organization against gun violence. California has passed several laws to mitigate acts of gun violence, including prohibiting assault weapons, enacting statewide red flag laws, implementing a 10-day waiting period prior to purchase, requiring universal background checks, and increasing mental health reporting, according to the governor’s office. Newsom also announced that he and legislative leaders will continue working together to expedite additional bills aimed at reducing gun violence and increasing community safety.
• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) introduced two bills to support efforts in California and across the country to put fires out faster and better protect communities from post-fire flooding, according to a May 26 statement from Padilla’s office. The Fire Suppression Improvement Act would help ease the burden on state and local governments—who are facing increasingly devastating wildfires—by expanding FEMA’s Federal Fire Management Assistance Grants to support the pre-deployment of firefighters and equipment in advance of major wildfires. The Post Fire Flooding and Debris Flow Act would include mitigating and preventing post-wildfire flooding and debris flows as eligible under FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant program, the statement continued. “The threat from wildfires is constant and increasingly devastating in California and states across the western United States,” Padilla said in a statement. “As we enter another dangerous fire season under record-breaking drought conditions, it’s more urgent than ever that we act quickly to pre-deploy assets to stop fires when they break out, and ensure our state and local community leaders have the tools to protect communities after they happen.”
