State reports drop in number of people on prohibited gun list

Legislators have frequently grilled Attorney General Xavier Becerra and his predecessors over enforcing the state's Armed and Prohibited Persons list. But the California Department of Justice delivered a report this week that suggests progress has been made.

The list shrank for the first time in five years during 2019, according to the legislatively mandated report. As of Jan. 1, there were 22,424 people on the list, a drop of about 800. Fifty-four percent were barred due to a felony conviction, 24% were on the list due to the federal Brady Law, which requires a five-day waiting period and background check before a gun sale, 19% were due to a restraining order, 18% were due to a mental health "triggering event" and smaller numbers due to misdemeanors or probation. Twenty-three percent of people on the list were prohibited for multiple reasons.

The unit made 21,696 contacts with individuals on the list in 2019 and seized 2,130 firearms. Nearly half of these guns were previously unknown to law enforcement. It also stated that the unit closed the backlog of 20,721 cases that were listed in 2018 report.

The report also repeated a plea for more staff and resources. Becerra told an Assembly Budget subcommittee in March the agents in the unit are underpaid compared to other law enforcement and must often contact prohibited persons in rural areas without backup. The unit is down to 45 agents, from 50 in 2018.

-- Malcolm Maclachlan