The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office was honored by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services for “Outstanding Contributions to Gun Violence Prevention.”
The award comes on the 10th anniversary of the passage of the Gun Violence Restraining Order law passed by the State Legislature in response to the 2014 mass murder in Isla Vista. This law, co-authored by then-assemblymember Das Williams, provides a legal pathway by which people exhibiting signs of mental health crisis can be relieved of their firearms lest they attempt to harm themselves or others.
More importantly, it provides a means for family members and roommates of those exhibiting signs of potentially violent disorders to petition the court system to have such weapons removed. While the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office does not have statistics at the ready detailing how many firearms have been taken, Sheriff Bill Brown said they were “an effective and important tool.”
The bill, Sheriff Brown said, offers a court sanctioned process to “temporarily restrict access to firearms.” As such, he said, the law “allows us to address threats proactively rather than respond after someone has been harmed.”
It’s one tool of many, he said, that explains how Santa Barbara — the 21st most populous in the state — has the 12th lowest rate of firearm deaths, the 19th lowest when it comes to firearm homicides, and the 13th lowest when it comes to firearm assisted suicide.
