SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sunday’s mass shooting is reigniting the efforts to pass more gun control laws in California and across the country. California already has the strictest laws on the books.
State Senator Bob Hertzberg said the arrest made Monday in connection to the mass shooting shows how incentives can work. He said people will report on others if they're given a reason to do so.
Sacramento police said the public sent in at least 100 videos and pictures related to Sunday's mass shooting. It led to the arrest of Dandrae Martin, a 26-year-old "related suspect," who was charged with assault and illegal possession of a firearm.
Senator Hertzberg said his bill would incentivize people to do the same. It's based on Texas' near abortion ban and would allow private citizens to sue anyone who manufactures or transports illegal weapons.
“If someone has a ghost gun or assault weapon and your neighbor sees it, and they can see that you transported it or that you have possession of it, all of a sudden, they can get $10,000 plus attorneys fees," he said.
Laws in California are only getting stricter, and gun violence is still going up.
“They're obviously not strict enough, because we're still having a problem," he said. "We don't want to hurt people who have legal guns or want to protect your home or protect your business or whatever.”
However, gun activist Craig Deluz said that’s the trajectory.
“History has taught us that every single time we implement restrictions on the access to firearms and or access to ammunitions, the only people that are generally harmed are law-abiding citizens,” Deluz said.
He said bad guys will always find a way.
“Sometimes, we do pass laws that don't work. You figure out how to get rid of those and come up with ones that do work," Hertzberg said. "In this case, the focus has nothing to do with the rightful gun owner."
Assemblymember Kevin McCarty is pushing his own bills, including one that would require the Department of Justice to notify law enforcement when a prohibited person tries to buy a gun. The other would increase the safety and oversight of gun shows in California.
Calls for gun control efforts even extend up to President Joe Biden, who called to ban ghost guns and for stricter background checks.
“You have to remember that the political institutions are reactive," political analyst Steve Swatt said, "And they react to public opinion. They react to horrendous events.”
Swatt said many of these bills will likely pass in California.
“The gun rights organizations certainly hope that they get to the U.S. Supreme Court where they will have favorable treatment, they believe,” he said.
Senator Hertzberg's gun control bill is set for a hearing on Tuesday.
Sunday's mass shooting claimed the lives of 6 people. The Sacramento County coroner identified the three women killed as Johntaya Alexander, 21; Melinda Davis, 57; and Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21. The three men killed were Sergio Harris, 38; Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32; and De’vazia Turner, 29.
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