Gun Ban for Offenders Found Mentally Incompetent to Stand Trial Heads to Governor’s Desk

Sacramento, CA - In an effort to address public safety, Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) has introduced legislation that notifies the Department of Justice whose mental illness leads them to be found mentally incompetent to stand trial from purchasing firearms. The bill passed out of the California Legislature with strong bipartisan support, where it received a final vote in the California State Senate 39 to 1 vote and the Assembly with a final 68 to 0 vote. The bill now heads to Governor Newsom’s desk.

The United States consistently remains one of the only countries with a persistent problem with gun violence. People in the United States are 25 times more likely to be killed in a gun homicide than those living in other developed countries. Since 2014, California has had more than 12,000 gun homicides.

“If you aren’t mentally competent enough to stand trial for a crime, then you aren’t mentally competent enough to own a gun,” said Haney. “It’s common sense.”

Currently, if a court finds that a person's mental illness makes them incompetent to stand trial during a felony criminal proceeding, the person is banned from buying or owning firearms until the court restores those rights. However, current law only triggers a firearm ban in felony criminal cases. Individuals deemed mentally incompetent in misdemeanor cases do not have their mental incompetency reported to the Department of Justice.

“People suffering from debilitating severe mental illnesses should not have access to a weapon that can take their own life or the life of other people around them in seconds,” said Haney. “That poses a serious threat to both our communities and to these people themselves.”

“This important legislation closes a loophole in our laws to ensure that individuals found mentally unfit to stand trial due to a severe mental condition cannot buy or possess firearms until their mental competency has been legally reinstated,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “To protect against both intentional and unintentional shootings, we must ensure that firearms are possessed only by individuals who can responsibly comply with our gun safety laws and who can be held accountable for unlawful conduct. I am thankful for our partnerships that allow us to continue to build on California’s life-saving progress against gun violence.”

AB 2629 would have courts notify the Department of Justice of mental incompetency in any case regardless of whether the underlying charge is a felony or misdemeanor. The key factor is the individual's mental health status, not the specific crime, making it logical to consistently notify the Department of Justice in all cases of mental incompetency.