Isla Vista Rampage Leads to New State and Federal Safety Proposals
Local legislators are calling for new laws to give family members and law officers a faster way to stop someone who is a risk to the community.
It comes after the May 23 stabbing and shooting rampage in Isla Vista by Elliot Rodger that left six students dead and 13 wounded.
Congresswoman Lois Capps and other local leaders used an Isla Vista park named after her late husband to list several state and federal proposals that could stop a mass killing.
“There were clear red flags before the I.V. rampage, yet this assailant fell through the cracks,” said Capps. “In Washington D.C., I have been searching for ways where we can find common sense solutions where we can prevent gun violence nationally.”
One idea creates a “gun violence prevention order” to help family members, responding officers and judges take a sweeping set of actions to prevent someone believed to be dangerous from using a gun they own or buying one.
Other proposed action opens the full gun data base for officers who are answering a call to check the welfare of a resident, and they will be able to get weapon information within 90 seconds.
Assemblyman Das Williams has proposed state legislation that will help family members intervene with the help of a law enforcement officer or a court order. “Even local gun owners have been willing to write us and say we support this. So this community is united behind taking action to prevent mass killings.”
State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson is also on the team of legislators involved in new proposed safety laws after the deadly killings five weeks ago.
The top law officer in Santa Barbara County says the proposed laws will help immediately.
“Does it insure justice for all? Does it insure public safety? I believe all of the bills our Congresswoman has proposed do just that,” said Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley.
One resident Ken Warfield said he and others want their voices to be included in this discussion. “This is outrageous. Nobody ever asked us. Nobody comes here and says, what do the people who have lived here a long time think.”
