AB 2917 – Expands the Grounds Courts May Consider in Issuing a Gun Violence Restraining Order

Existing law authorizes a court to issue a gun violence restraining order to prohibit a person from purchasing or possessing a firearm or ammunition for a period of one to five years, subject to renewal for additional one- to five-year periods, if (1) the subject of the petition poses a significant danger of self-harm or harm to another in the near future by having a firearm, and (2) the order is necessary to prevent personal injury to the subject of the petition or another. Existing law requires the court, in determining whether grounds for a gun violence restraining order exist, to consider evidence of a recent threat of violence or act of violence by the subject directed toward another individual and a past history of those threats or acts within the last 12 months. Existing law also authorizes a court to consider the unlawful and reckless use, display, or brandishing of a firearm by the subject of the petition.

Assembly Bill 2917 (AB 2917) requires the court to additionally consider a recent threat of violence or act of violence directed toward another group or location, or a past history of those threats or acts.

The bill clarifies that to an extent a court considers the unlawful and reckless use, display, or brandishing of a firearm in evaluating the grounds for a restraining order, this may include acts using electronic means of communication, including social media postings or messages, text messages, or email that indicate an increased risk for violence or actual threat of violence. The bill further clarifies that a court may issue a gun violence restraining order even if the respondent does not own firearms, ammunition, or other deadly weapons at the time that the court is considering issuing a gun violence restraining order.

AB 2917 further authorizes the court to consider the following in determining whether grounds for a gun violence restraining order exist:

• Evidence of stalking.
• Evidence of cruelty to animals.
• Evidence of the respondent’s threats of violence to advance a political objective.
• Evidence of the respondent’s oral or written threats of violence toward any person or group because of their actual or perceived race or ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, gender, or sexual orientation, including, but not limited to, threats using electronic means of communication, including social media postings or messages, text messages, or email.
• Evidence of the respondent’s knowing and intentional defacement, damage, or destruction of the property of any other person for the purpose of intimidating or interfering with the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege under the law, in whole or in part because of a person’s actual or perceived race or ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, gender, or sexual orientation.
• Evidence of recent attempted acquisition of firearms, ammunition, or other deadly weapons.
• Violations of comparable firearm-prohibiting protective orders issued by out-of-state courts.

(AB 2917 amends sections 851.92, 11105, 13300, and 18155 of the Penal Code.)