A California Gun Violence Restraining Order can take away your right to possess or purchase firearms, ammunition, and magazines for up to five years.
But a five year order does not necessarily mean you must wait five years to get your gun rights back.
California Penal Code § 18185 allows a person subject to a long term Gun Violence Restraining Order to ask the Superior Court once each year to terminate the order early. If the evidence no longer supports the findings required to keep the GVRO in place, the court must terminate it.
The Issue Is Whether the Danger Still Exists
To issue a long term GVRO, the court must find by clear and convincing evidence both:
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- a significant danger of personal injury arising from access to firearms; and
- continued disarmament is necessary because less restrictive alternatives are inadequate or inappropriate.
A GVRO issued after hearing can remain in effect for one to five years.
Circumstances, however, can change.
An order may have arisen from a crisis, threats, substance abuse, suicidal statements, a volatile relationship, or other conduct occurring years ago.
If the circumstances supporting the original order no longer exist, Penal Code § 18185 provides a mechanism to put the issue back before the court.
What Does United States v. Rahimi Mean?
In United States v. Rahimi, the United States Supreme Court held the Second Amendment permits temporary disarmament of a person judicially found to pose a credible threat to another person’s physical safety.
That decision did not eliminate California GVROs.
But Rahimi emphasized two important concepts. An individualized finding of dangerousness and temporary, rather than permanent, disarmament.
California’s own GVRO statute reflects those concepts by allowing the restrained person to return to court and seek early termination.
Our Approach
An early termination request should be built around the circumstances which caused the GVRO and what has changed since the order was entered.
Our office evaluates the original court record, the basis for the order, subsequent events, and whether the evidence still satisfies California’s demanding standard for continued firearm restrictions.
If the statutory grounds no longer exist, we can ask the Superior Court to terminate the GVRO before its scheduled expiration.
Bottom Line
A California Gun Violence Restraining Order lasting several years does not necessarily mean you must wait until it expires.
Penal Code § 18185 provides a real opportunity to seek early restoration of your firearm rights.
If you are currently subject to a California GVRO and want to determine whether you may qualify for early termination, contact our office for a confidential consultation.