Education For Action 2008

Firearm Ownership and Mental Health Prohibition:
An Examination of Policy, Regulations and Procedures.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2008 9:00 - 3:00

The Education for Action Conferences provide an opportunity for policy makers, policy implementers, and concerned citizens to address issues related to gun violence prevention. Past conferences have focused on topics ranging from illegal gun trafficking to juvenile delinquency prevention. In the wake of the Virginia Tech shooting, there is a need to evaluate criteria for prohibited persons as it relates to mental health.

California is a leader in firearm regulation and safety; however, it has become apparent through the investigation of Los Angeles City Attorney Peter Shutan that few people have a complete understanding of mental health firearm prohibitions. For this reason, we divided the issue into three questions we were interested in answering. First what are the triggering events that cause a person to become prohibited?  The second question was in regard to the reporting process: who reports the prohibition and how is the information is disseminated to the individuals and agencies that will enforce the prohibition? The final question related to training and information: how are law enforcement, health professionals, the public, and prohibited persons provided   with training and information?

The conference successfully, brought together individuals from various California, Los Angeles County and City departments and private agencies in an effort to understand mental health and firearm prohibitions.  The conference examined the current regulations, the training available on the subject and where new policy is needed to improve the system.  Some very meaningful discoveries about the state of California and Federal regulations regarding mental health were made during this event.  Women Against Gun Violence will continue the dialogue and develop an action plan to address the areas where new policy is needed.

We would like to thank the speakers and attendees for making the Education for Action conference a success.  We would like to invite all interested individuals and organizations to join us working for actionable change on firearm regulations to make our families and communities safer for all. 

Peter Shutan has generously provided additional materials on Mental Health and Firearm Ownership.  California Firearms Related Crimes lists the maximum sentence, the code section and the description of charges for Los Angeles and California firearm Crimes.  The Mental Health & Firearms Cheat Sheet provides the code section and a brief description of the Welfare and Institutions Code and the Penal Code in a quick reference chart.

California Firearms Related Crimes.pdf

Mental Health and Firearms Cheat Sheet.pdf

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Photographs from top:

Peter Shutan from the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office

framing the discussion as keynote speaker.

Deputy Attorney General Alison Merrilees,

California Department of Justice presenting on

the welfare and institutions code.

Dr. Dallas Stout presenting with the afternoon panel

on training for mental health clinicians.

Deputy District Attorney Rick Vagnozzi presenting

on Los Angeles Court 95, the mental health court.