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April 24th, 2018 Marc Engstrom (916) 319-2048
Assemblywoman Rubio’s Domestic Violence Legislative Package Advances
SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, Assemblywoman Blanca E. Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) announced the passage of her 2018 Domestic Violence Legislative Package out of their respective policies committees. The package, consisting of three pieces of legislation, each are designed to protect survivors of domestic violence.
The first measure, Assembly Bill 2526, will bolster public safety by ensuring time-sensitive restraining orders are issued efficiently and effectively when there is immediate and present danger to the public. The bill will clarify procedures for law enforcement and the courts to follow when issuing emergency temporary gun violence restraining orders. The second bill, Assembly Bill 2694, would no longer allow counties to require domestic violence victims applying for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to notify the alleged perpetrator in advance.
The key legislative component to the package, Assembly Bill 3129, narrowly passed through the Assembly Public Safety Committee on a 4-3 vote. AB 3129 would impose a lifetime ban on firearm possession against an individual convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence charge. While federal law imposes a lifetime firearms ban, California law is more lenient than federal law in this regard by only imposing a ten year ban.
“There is a very real connection between past domestic violence and a propensity to future violence, including mass shootings,” said Assemblymember Rubio. “California state law is inadequate to fully protect survivors of domestic violence. Abused women are five times more likely to be killed if their abuser owns a firearm, and domestic violence assaults involving a gun are 12 times more likely to end in death than assaults with other weapons or physical harm.”
“The role of guns in domestic assaults is not limited to homicides,” wrote Kathy Moore, the Executive Director of the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, in a support letter. “A 2004 survey of female domestic violence shelter residents found that more than 1/3 reported having been threatened or harmed with a firearm. . . The numbers speak for themselves – to save lives, it is essential that federal and state gun laws keep deadly weapons out of the hands of people who harm.”
The three bills now head to the Assembly Appropriations Committee where a vote will be taken in the coming month.
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Website of Assemblymember Blanca E. Rubio: www.asm.ca.gov/Rubio