Could Gun Violence Restraining Orders Prevent Another Parkland?

One month ago today, a gunman who police say was armed with an AR-15 rifle walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and opened fire, killing 17 people. Today, in schools across the country, including many in North Carolina, students plan to recognize the Parkland victims by walking out of class for 17 minutes. Some participants also plan use the walkout as a platform to advocate for stricter gun control. Debate over the appropriate legislative response to this tragedy has raged—and ranged—over the past several weeks. Some have called for arming teachers.  Others have advocated for barring a person under 21 from purchasing an assault rifle. And last week, an op-ed in the Washington Post advocated a relatively new variety of weapons restriction:  Gun violence restraining orders.  The editorial.  Mara Elliott, the city attorney for San Diego, wrote the article, in which she characterized gun violence restraining orders (GVROs) as an idea supported by advocates for gun control and gun rights and a concept that was working to prevent gun violence in her city. The law. California adopted its GVRO statutes after a 2014 mass killing in Isla Vista, California, in which six people were killed. The statutory scheme resembles the one in Chapter 50B of the North Carolina General Statutes for obtaining a domestic violence restraining order. A law enforcement officer or an immediate family member may petition the court for an ex parte gun violence restraining order that prohibits a person from controlling, owning, purchasing, possessing, or [...]