In California, A Move to Escalate Punishment for False GVRO Petitions

California Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez wants to make filing a false Gun Violence Restraining Order (GVRO) petition a felony — a move Law Shield would support.

Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore) has introduced AB 225, which would make it a felony to lie in a petition for an ex parte gun-violence restraining order or a gun violence restraining order issued after notice and a hearing.

Melendez wrote in a Facebook post, “I didn’t enact the law, but I’m awfully happy to be the one to undo it. Law abiding gun owners should NEVER have to fear their rights can be stripped away because an angry ex or neighbor wants to get even.”

GVROs were put in place in 2014 after Elliot Rodger’s Santa Barbara attacks, in which he killed six people with a knife and a gun and injured others with a car. GVROs allow family members and others to petition for confiscation of firearms from a person alleged to be considering gun violence, but not violence through other methods.

Under existing law, it’s a misdemeanor to file a false petition or asking for a GVRO with the intent to harass.

 

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