California Bill Would Require Police to Check Gun Database Before Making Welfare Check

The California state senator who represents the Isla Vista community that was ravaged by a mass murder last month has introduced legislation to require law enforcement to check California's gun-purchase database before going out on a welfare check, and provide grants to help police take guns from people who are not allowed to own them.

Police checked on Elliot Rodger, the 22-year-old authorities say killed six people in Isla Vista before killing himself, after his parents alerted them of his violent video rants just a couple weeks before the shooting. The officers did not find evidence that Rodger posed a threat to himself or others.

"Although law enforcement may not have had the legal authority to seize Elliot Rodger's three guns had they known about them, a gun database search could have provided additional information that might have helped them better assess the danger that Rodger posed to himself and others," said a statement from Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara.

The Sacramento Bee reports her Senate Bill 505 would require officers to search the state Department of Justice's Automated Firearms System database before checking on someone who may be in danger of committing violence.