Who can file for a gun violence restraining order?
You can file for a gun violence restraining order if the respondent poses a significant danger of causing personal injury to himself/herself or another person by having in his/her custody or control, owning, purchasing, possessing, or receiving a firearm or ammunition. Additionally, to file for a gun violence restraining order, you must be the respondent’s immediate family member or a law enforcement officer.1 You are considered an immediate family member if you are the respondent’s:
- spouse (including a common law spouse if established in a state that recognizes common law marriage);
- domestic partner;
- parent;
- child;
- second-degree relative (such as an uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, grandparent, grandchild, etc.); or
- current household member or regularly lived in the respondent’s household within the previous six months before filing.2
Note: You can request that a law enforcement officer file a petition even if you are not the respondent’s immediate family member.
1 Cal. Penal Code § 18105(a)(1), (a)(2)
2 Cal. Penal Code § 422.4(b)(3)