Los Angeles Times - 04.10.2019

B2 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2019 LATIMES.COM

California, a gun rights

group, and by the American

Civil Liberties Union, which

argues the bill would dispro-

portionately affect black

people and fails to address

the “root causes” of sub-

stance abuse and violent be-

havior.

Under California law,

people who have a felony

conviction can’t receive a

gun license from the state. In

addition, people with misde-

meanor convictions for

crimes involving violence,

hate, the unlawful use of fire-

arms and certain other

things aren’t eligible to re-

ceive a license for 10 years.

SB 55 would add convictions

for public intoxication, dis-

orderly conduct under the

influence of alcohol, and

drunk driving to that list.

The new study goes some

way toward filling a gap in re-

search that prompted then-

Gov. Jerry Brown to veto an

earlier version of the bill in

2013. In blocking the bill,
      Brown wrote that he was
      “not persuaded that it is
      necessary to bar gun owner-
      ship on the basis of crimes
      that are non-felonies, non-
      violent and do not involve
      misuse of a firearm.”
      The study comes from re-
      searchers at UC Davis’ Vi-
      olence Prevention Research
      Program. Its findings sug-
      gest that denying gun own-
      ership rights to those with a
      history of drunk driving con-
      victions would reduce vi-
      olent crimes and might save
      lives. In 2017, 14,542 homi-
      cides and more than 400,
      violent victimizations in-
      volved the use of a firearm.
      But the researchers did
      not draw a causal line be-
      tween drunkenness and
      criminal violence. Although
      roughly a third of all fire-
      arms deaths in the United
      States are thought to have
      involved alcohol, these new

findings do not suggest that

alcohol itself prompts or

predisposes a gun owner to

victimize others.

Instead, they suggest

that, across broad popula-

tions, many people who en-

gage in risky behavior involv-

ing alcohol will also engage

in the kinds of risky behavior

that endanger other peo-

ple’s lives. And in cases

where heavy drinking and

gun access are combined,

impaired judgment might

heighten the risk that an in-

dividual predisposed to vi-

olent behavior will act out.

In that sense, the new

findings zero in on a sub-

group of gun owners who

may have contributed to the

sobering findings of a 2011

study by Dr. Garen Winte-

mute, the director of the Vi-

olence Prevention Research

Program and senior author

of the new report.

Drawing from a survey of

Americans’ risky behaviors,

Wintemute found that gun

owners in general were twice

as likely as those who did not

own guns to drink heavily,

and 2.5 times more likely to

get behind the wheel after

having drunk “perhaps too

much,” by their own admis-

sion.

The new study makes

clear that lawless behavior is

not the norm among gun

owners. The researchers

were able to track 65,

Californians between the

ages of 21 and 49 who bought

a handgun legally in 2001 and

could still be found in the

state in 2013. Of those over-

whelmingly male and mostly

white gun buyers, 1,495 —

fewer than 2% — had a prior

conviction on a drunk driv-

ing charge. And just over 14%

of that small group of gun

owners were arrested for vi-

olent crimes during the 12-

year study period.

Still, that was much

higher than the 3% rate at

which gun buyers with no

DUI or other convictions

went on to be arrested for a

violent crime. After adjust-

ing for age, gender and eth-

nicity, the researchers found

the risk for those with a prior

DUI conviction was 2.5 to

three times higher than for

those without a conviction.

In focusing on DUIs,

“we’ve identified a risk fac-

tor for future violence

among people who buy

handguns, and the associ-

ation is fairly strong — an al-

most threefold increase in

risk,” said study leader Rose

M.C. Kagawa, an assistant

professor of emergency

medicine at UC Davis.

At the same time, she ac-

knowledged, the number of

gun sales blocked by a mea-

sure like SB 55 would be

small, as would the number

of violent crimes prevented.

“It’s a bit of a balancing

act,” Kagawa said.

Such reasoning riles Sam

Paredes, executive director

of Gun Owners of California.

Using past or present behav-

ior as a predictor of future vi-

olent acts — “that whole

concept is very difficult,” he

said.

“You’re being stripped of

your rights because some-

one believes you are a dan-

ger in the future? ... This

could translate to all man-

ner of things,” Paredes said.

A prior conviction for

drunk driving seems to be a

better predictor of future

criminal violence than a pri-

or conviction for other, non-

alcohol-related, nonviolent

misdemeanors, the study re-

sults suggest, but just by a

little bit. Lawful buyers of

handguns with a conviction

like that on their rap sheet

were more than twice as

likely as buyers with clean

records to be arrested for a

violent crime over the next

dozen years.

“These findings unmis-

takably support the pending

California DUI convictions

legislation,” said an editorial

that accompanied the study.

Though the number of

people potentially barred

from gun ownership “may

seem small,” the broad

adoption of such laws “has

the potential to avert larger

numbers of acts of firearm

violence,” wrote the editorial

authors, a trio of injury pre-

vention experts from the

University of Pennsylvania

and Columbia University.

Adoption of a federal law

like SB 55 — an unlikely

prospect in the current Con-

gress — would “decisively

signal that, as a nation, we

are as intolerant of mixing

alcohol and firearms, so-

called drunk firing, as we are

of drunk driving,” they

wrote.

A study of gun violence, DUIs

SENATE BILL 55 would tighten restrictions on gun

buyers with multiple alcohol-related misdemeanors.

Roger WilsonTimes Community News

[Guns,from B1]

Rosenblatt also alleged
that the ordinance directly
regulates interstate com-
merce because 95% of short-
term rentals in Santa Moni-
ca involved out-of-state
travelers. Disagreeing, the
9th Circuit said the law pe-
nalizes conduct only in
Santa Monica, regardless of
whether the visitors come
from California or else-
where.
Santa Monica is consid-
ered to have one of the strict-
est bans on short-term rent-
als in the country. A report
by Conde Nast Traveler last
year identified cities around
the world that regulate
Airbnb in varying degrees.
They include Los Angeles,
San Francisco, Charleston,
Amsterdam, New York, Ma-
llorca, Paris and Barcelona.
After more than three
years of debate, Los Angeles
passed its ordinance last
December limiting short-
term rentals to primary resi-
dences, not second homes or
investment property. The
law was intended to deter
people from buying apart-
ments and running them

like hotels, a practice that

activists said was exacerbat-

ing the housing crisis.

But the rules did not take

immediate effect. Los Ange-

les gave hosts until Novem-

ber to register with the city

through a new system.

In a letter sent to city offi-

cials last week, Airbnb ar-

gued it needed more time to

build a computerized sys-

tem to share rental informa-

tion with the city — one of

the ways that online plat-

forms can comply with the

new ordinance. A spokes-

man for the city’s planning

department said there were

other ways to comply and

the new rules would take ef-

fect Nov. 1.

Rosenblatt’s challenge to

the Santa Monica ordinance

reached the 9th Circuit on

an appeal of a district judge’s

decision to dismiss the law-

suit. Without a trial, the

judge ruled there was no le-

gal basis under which Ro-

senblatt could prevail.

The 9th Circuit rejected

another challenge of the law

earlier this year by Airbnb

and Expedia Group Inc.’s

HomeAway.

OPPONENTS of the law rally outside Santa Monica
City Hall before the 2015 vote on short-term rentals.

Allen J. SchabenLos Angeles Times

Court upholds

Santa Monica law

[Rental,from B1]

SACRAMENTO — Gov.
Gavin Newsom has signed
legislation to tighten the
rules for utility power shut-
offs as California grapples
with more frequent planned
outages when potentially
dangerous wildfire condi-
tions exist.
The new requirements
call for investor-owned util-
ities to create plans to lessen
the effects of outages on cus-
tomers with sensitive medi-
cal needs and notify all emer-
gency responders, health-
care providers and public
safety groups within an out-
age area. The laws, signed
Wednesday, are among
roughly two dozen bills re-
lated to wildfires that New-
som has signed into law this
year.
“Given the realities of cli-
mate change and extreme
weather events, the work is
not done, but these bills rep-
resent important steps for-
ward on prevention, com-
munity resilience and utility
oversight,” Newsom said.
Conceived as a method of
last resort, planned outages
have become a more com-
mon tactic to prevent
disaster following some of
the deadliest and most de-
structive wildfires in state
history.
Electrical utilities rely on
weather models to suggest
when strong winds, hot tem-
peratures and dry vegeta-
tion create prime conditions
for power lines to be knocked
down or crossed, sparking
dangerous wildfires.
But turning off power cre-
ates public safety risks, and
the practice has heightened
concern for vulnerable resi-
dents, particularly elderly
or disabled people who
could be subjected to life-
threatening hardship with-
out electricity.
State regulators issued
several rulings over the last
year to require utilities to
provide advance notice to
customers and emergency
responders when possible.
But examples of botched no-
tification and poor commu-
nication inspired lawmakers
to craft bills this year that
codify shutoff rules.
Senate Bill 167 from state
Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) re-
quires investor-owned util-

ities to outline protocols in

their annual wildfire miti-

gation plans that would less-

en the effects of shutoffs on

so-called medical baseline

customers, or individuals

with sensitive medical

needs. Those customers

qualify for discounted

monthly rates if they use

electricity to power life-sus-

taining medical equipment

or motorized wheelchairs, or

if they suffer from other

qualifying medical issues.

Utilities use the programs to

identify customers who

could be at harm if they lose

power.

During shutoffs last year,

Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

provided extra outreach to

medical baseline customers.

But some local public health

officials say that thousands

of vulnerable residents do

not participate in those pro-

grams, which require cus-

tomers to apply and qualify,

and that they could have

been at risk without proper

warnings.

Newsom also signed

SB 560 by state Sen. Mike

McGuire (D-Healdsburg),

which seeks to improve com-

munication around shutoffs.

McGuire introduced the

law this year in response to

outrage in his community

over limited warnings. He

has repeatedly vented his

own frustrations, saying he

shouldn’t have to “legislate

common sense.” The bill re-

quires utilities to develop

protocols to warn first

responders, healthcare pro-

viders, telecommunications

companies and other groups

about power shutoffs.

Among other notable

wildfire laws signed by New-

som, SB 247 allows a new di-

vision within the California

Public Utilities Commission

to hire an independent third

party to audit a utility’s veg-

etation management work

and issue a report detailing

any failures one year later.

SB 209, another new law

written by Dodd, requires

the Office of Emergency

Services and the Depart-

ment of Forestry and Fire

Protection to establish and

lead a new Wildfire Forecast

and Threat Intelligence In-

tegration Center.

Multiple state agencies

and regulatory bodies will

use the new network —

which a legislative analysis

pegs at a cost of more than

$10 million — to collect data

on weather and wildfire

threats.

“The approach of fire sea-

son underscores the need for

immediate action,” Dodd

said. “We can’t sit back and

watch our state burn.”

New rules for wildfire power shutoffs

Laws are meant to

minimize negative

effects of the planned

outages during times

of high fire danger.

By Taryn Luna

DOWNED POWER LINESlie on burned-out cars after last year’s Camp fire, which was sparked by PG&E electrical transmission lines.

Justin SullivanGetty Images

A PG&Eworker repairs a power line after the fire. Planned outages have become

a more common tactic for utilities during dangerous wildfire weather conditions.

Rich PedroncelliAssociated Press