Saving Lives Through Gun Violence Restraining Orders

Co-sponsored by Brady Orange County, UCI Law, UCI Initiative to End Family Violence, and UCI Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy

You can always give back a gun, but you can’t give back a life: that’s the principle behind Gun Violence Restraining Order (GVRO) laws. This little-known and recently enacted tool enables the people closest to someone in crisis to act before tragedy strikes. GVROs (often called “extreme risk protection orders”) provide family members, household members, and law enforcement with a civil court process for temporarily removing firearms and ammunition from someone who poses a significant risk of harm to themselves or others. GVROs, which also prohibit firearm purchases for the duration of the order, are intended to create safer circumstances for individuals at risk of harm to seek treatment and access resources while preventing firearm fatalities.

This conference recognizes the uniquely American epidemic of gun violence and how easy access to firearms is a significant risk factor for injury and death, particularly for individuals in crisis. Researchers and practitioners from across California will explore opportunities and challenges to utilizing GVROs, including in the context of family violence, and potential for the GVRO remedy to save countless lives.

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Amy Barnhorst

Vice Chair for Community Mental Health

UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Featured Speakers

Nicole R. Crosby

Chief Deputy City Attorney

San Diego City Attorney’s Office

John C. Hemmerling

Assistant City Attorney

San Diego City Attorney’s Office

Jane Stoever

Clinical Professor of Law

Director, Domestic Violence Clinic

Director, UCI Initiative to End Family Violence

UCI School of Law

Julia Weber

Gun Violence Restraining Order Implementation Fellow

Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence

Camiella Williams

Trustee

Prairie State College

National Organizer

Fight4AFuture Network

Lunch and refreshments will be provided. This event is free and open to the public. UCI guest parking is $2/hour. To request reasonable accommodations for a disability, please contact centers@law.uci.edu.

4.0 hours of MCLE credit approved by the State Bar of California. UCI School of Law is a State Bar-approved MCLE provider.