Legislature OK’s Bill by Skinner and Blakespear to Strengthen CA’s ‘Red Flag’ Law
The Legislature today unanimously approved SB 899, a bill by state Senators Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, and Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas, that would bolster California’s “Red Flag” law and other state statutes that prevent gun violence.
SB 899 would make it easier for California courts to ensure that people who are deemed to be a threat to themselves or others no longer have access to firearms. SB 899 would establish uniform standards for courts when issuing gun violence restraining orders (GVROs), also known as “Red Flag” laws, as well as the state’s other firearm restraining order laws. The new standards would conform to existing rules that govern California’s domestic violence restraining order (DVRO) law which also requires those under such orders to relinquish their firearms.
“A decade ago, in response to a tragic mass shooting near UC Santa Barbara, I authored the nation’s first ‘Red Flag’ law. That law has prevented dozens of mass shootings by keeping firearms out of the hands of those threatening violence to themselves or others. California has enacted similar laws to combat domestic violence, and school and workplace violence. Yet too many people subject to these orders don’t relinquish their guns as the law intends,” Sen. Skinner said. “By giving our courts and law enforcement tools to ensure that guns are recovered, SB 899 will improve the effectiveness of our gun violence prevention laws.”
“California has some of the toughest gun safety laws in the nation, but we must ensure they are working as intended,” Sen. Blakespear said. “Currently, only domestic violence restraining orders require courts to follow up on whether a firearm was properly turned over as required by law. SB 899 applies this across all restraining order types, making sure that people who have been deemed a danger or risk to have firearms don’t have them.”
Over the years, California has enacted some of strongest and most effective gun safety laws in the nation. According to the CDC, California has one of the lowest firearm mortality rates in the nation.
In 2014, California enacted the nation’s first GVRO law, AB 1014, by then-Assemblymember Skinner.
AB 1014 was in response to a mass shooting in the town of Isla Vista, next to UC Santa Barbara. In that case, the shooter’s mother had warned law enforcement about the grave dangers her son posed, but there was no legal mechanism at the time for police to search his home and take away his firearms. In all, he killed six people and himself.
Over the years, California has adopted five other restraining order laws that result in the relinquishment of firearms to address domestic violence, school violence, workplace violence, elder or dependent abuse, and civil harassment.
But even with those laws, far too many people who have been deemed by a court to be a threat to themselves or others still have guns. According to the state Department of Justice, there are approximately 23,500 Californians on the state’s APPS (Armed and Prohibited Persons System) list.
In 2021, California enacted SB 320 (Eggman), strengthening California’s domestic violence restraining order law by helping ensure that those subject to a DVRO actually relinquish their guns. SB 899 is designed to help further reduce the state’s APPS list backlog by applying SB 320’s standards to California’s other firearm-prohibiting restraining order laws.
SB 899 passed both the Senate and Assembly unanimously. The bill is now headed to the governor’s desk. If signed into law, it will go into effect Jan. 1, 2026.
Sen. Skinner represents the 9th Senate District and is chair of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus and the Senate Housing Committee.
Elected in 2022, Sen. Blakespear represents Senate District 38, which covers northern San Diego County and part of Orange County. To learn more about the district and Sen. Blakespear, visit her Senate website.