Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Follow the Science, Unless it Leads Where You Don’t Want to Go

Monday, May 16, 2022

Follow the Science, Unless it Leads Where You Don’t Want to Go

Researchers in California have published the results of a study evaluating the effectiveness of so-called “gun violence restraining orders” (a.k.a. “extreme risk protection orders” or “red flag” orders). Assembly Bill 1014, was enacted in California in 2014, and since then, 19 states and the District of Columbia have adopted similar laws.

Authors of the study, Firearm Violence Following the Implementation of California’s Gun Violence Restraining Order Law, include Garen Wintemute, the director of the University of California Firearm Violence Research Center and a “key contributor” who helped draft AB 1014.

Very briefly, these laws create a mechanism that allows a family member, police officer, or some other third party (in California, this includes coworkers, school employees, and teachers) to file a petition in court, supported by allegations that the person named in the petition, at some point in the future, poses a danger to themselves or others by possessing or having access to a firearm. If the court is satisfied that there is some potential of future harm, it issues an order authorizing police to take away all firearms the person owns or controls, and prohibiting the person from possessing or acquiring firearms while the order is in effect. The initial court process may be “ex parte” (without any notice to, or an opportunity to respond by, the affected person) or a full hearing on notice. In California, the ex parte order has a minimum duration of 21 days. Once confirmed in a full hearing, the “temporary” order is in effect for up to five years, although orders may be renewed indefinitely.  

The researchers examined whether implementation of the California gun violence restraining order (GVRO) law was associated with decreased rates of “firearm assault” or firearm self-harm between 2016 (when AB 1014 took effect) and 2019. They compared the post-GVRO rate of firearm violence in San Diego County (chosen because it had a “high GVRO uptake” or incidence of GVROs) with the estimated outcome in a synthetic control unit (a combination of California control counties weighted to match the firearm violence trend in San Diego, 2005-2015, as closely as possible). The researchers “hypothesized that the GVRO law would be associated with a reduction in firearm violence.” 

The results, though, showed that the GVRO law had no impact – “we found no evidence that GVRO implementation was associated with decreased firearm assault or firearm self-harm at the population level in San Diego.” The researchers sought to qualify this result by noting that the findings could be “partially explained by access to firearms through the underground market,” or “could reflect a true absence of association or limitations of our study; further research is needed to determine which of these is the case.”

A 2,000 word editorial authored by another set of researchers, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concurrently with the Wintemute study, repeated this “telling caveat” and sought to downplay the findings, expressing the hope that “this will deter gun industry lobbyists from spinning the study’s results as definitive evidence that ‘gun laws do not work’…”

“Spin” is a remarkable word to use here. The editorial authors are self-described “collaborators” in another, ongoing study on GVROs, “funded by the National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research, which includes [the 2022 study researchers] Dr's Pear and Wintemute.” One of the editorial authors is a “founding member” and serves on the Executive Steering Committee of a consortium that was “influential in developing the Gun Violence Restraining Order (GVRO) law in California,” the very law under review.

The palpable spin – and spin it surely is – is the attempt to diminish, or dismiss entirely, the findings as “premature,” or affected by “unobserved contextual factors specific to San Diego County,” or due to the small number of GVROs compared to the “theoretical pool” of “suicide-planners in gun-owning households and angry gun-carriers in San Diego County,” resulting in “too small a pebble to make much of a ripple in such a big pond.” Would these same elaborate justifications and qualifications be advanced as forcefully or at all had the study results reflected the promises that this legislation was predicated on? 

The Wintemute study established that rates of firearm injury and death had (to use the words of the editorial’s authors) “no statistically significant association with GVRO implementation.” The results are based on data from a jurisdiction that has had a GVRO law in place for several years. The study used similar methodology to much social science research, that these researchers are normally happy to draw conclusions from, assuming that they’re the “right” conclusions. But, when this “evidence” points to the conclusion that gun control doesn’t work, these same researchers will downplay their own results.

The NRA and other organizations have opposed GVRO-type laws for many reasons, notably because they deprive citizens of their fundamental rights and property without due process safeguards and a clear evidentiary basis. Orders may issue unchallenged, without notice or the opportunity to respond, on flimsy grounds and without any evidence of actual wrongdoing. The ACLU of Rhode Island expressed “great concern” about a “red flag” law because the “standard for seeking and issuing an order is so broad it could routinely be used against people who engage in ‘overblown political rhetoric’ on social media” or based on a person’s “mere possession of firearms,” and because the process sets a precedent “for the use of coercive measures against individuals not because they are alleged to have committed any crime, but because somebody believes they might, someday, commit one.” In one troubling indicator that appears to bear out these concerns, an early analysis showed that the vast majority of California GVROs that were issued “ex parte” (without notice) were later not confirmed or extended by a court in a full hearing. 

The flip side of “gun industry lobbyists … spinning the study’s results” to show gun laws don’t work is gun control proponents continuing to maintain that that GVROs are an effective way of addressing suicide and gun crime despite their own study results being incompatible with that notion. The researchers here maintain that “[d]espite our null findings, the state of the evidence overall supports GVROs and related legislation as tools that may be useful in preventing firearm injury and death,” and the editorial collaborators dismiss the study as simply an “early report” with new studies and more work needed. As it happens, the unintended consequence of this gratuitous and excessive spin – the over-rationalizing and minimizing of the results – is to undermine the reliability and credibility of any further research endeavors and trivialize future findings.

TRENDING NOW
Rep. Sheri Biggs Introduces Legislation to Ensure Ability to Ship Firearms

News  

Thursday, May 1, 2025

Rep. Sheri Biggs Introduces Legislation to Ensure Ability to Ship Firearms

On April 28, 2025, Representative Sheri Biggs (R-SC-03) introduced the Protecting the Mailing of Firearms Act (H.R. 3033). This legislation will remove the arbitrary prohibition on the mailing of handguns and ammunition via the United States Postal ...

Anti-gun Lawmakers Attempt to Ban Essential Second Amendment Arms

News  

Monday, May 5, 2025

Anti-gun Lawmakers Attempt to Ban Essential Second Amendment Arms

On April 30, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) introduced the so-called “Assault Weapons Ban of 2025.” Picking up where his predecessor Dianne Feinstein left off, Schiff’s legislation would ban commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms, such as the AR-15.

Trump Administration Revives Federal Firearm Rights Restoration Provision

News  

Friday, March 21, 2025

Trump Administration Revives Federal Firearm Rights Restoration Provision

On March 20, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) published an interim final rule entitled, Withdrawing the Attorney General’s Delegation of Authority. That bland title belies the historic nature of the measure, which is aimed at reviving ...

Kansas Supreme Court Enforces PLCAA in High Profile Case

News  

Monday, May 5, 2025

Kansas Supreme Court Enforces PLCAA in High Profile Case

Last week, the Kansas Supreme Court upheld a significant district court dismissal in Johnson v. Bass Pro Outdoor World, LLC, deciding that Bass Pro Outdoor World and Beretta USA/Beretta Italy cannot be sued by a man who ...

Partisan Due Process Renaissance Excludes American Gun Owners

News  

Monday, May 5, 2025

Partisan Due Process Renaissance Excludes American Gun Owners

An observer of American political discourse can’t go anywhere these days without being bombarded by reproachful references to the importance of “due process.”

Not Your Father’s DOJ: Government Actively Backs Second Amendment in Litigation

News  

Monday, May 5, 2025

Not Your Father’s DOJ: Government Actively Backs Second Amendment in Litigation

It has, in theory, always been the sworn duty of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to uphold the constitutional rights of American citizens and to affirmatively protect fundamental liberties. 

New Hampshire: Hearing on Firearms Safety Training in Schools This Week

Monday, May 5, 2025

New Hampshire: Hearing on Firearms Safety Training in Schools This Week

On Friday, May 9th, the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee will hold a hearing on an amendment to SB 54 that would require NRA's Hunter Education and Eddie Eagle GunSafe programs to be taught in New Hampshire Schools. 

House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Votes to Advance Legislation to Protect Veterans Second Amendment Rights

News  

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Votes to Advance Legislation to Protect Veterans Second Amendment Rights

On Tuesday, May 6, 2025, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, led by Chairman Mike Bost (R-IL-12), held a markup for several bills. Among these bills being considered was H.R. 1041, the Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act, ...

Arizona: Pro-Gun Bills Pass Legislature, Head to Governor Hobbs for Signature

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Arizona: Pro-Gun Bills Pass Legislature, Head to Governor Hobbs for Signature

The Arizona Legislature recently passed several pro-gun bills that will now head to Governor Hobbs for her signature. Please use the TAKE ACTION button below to contact Governor Katie Hobbs and urge her to sign these ...

UPDATE: Legislation Introduced to Protect Veterans’ Second Amendment Rights

News  

Monday, May 5, 2025

UPDATE: Legislation Introduced to Protect Veterans’ Second Amendment Rights

The Chairmen of the House and Senate Committees on Veterans’ Affairs, U.S. Representative Mike Bost (R-IL-12) and Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), as well as Senator John Kennedy (R-LA), have reintroduced the Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act ...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.