Erik Chalhoub here with some sobering statistics. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been at least 237 people killed by guns in Monterey County from 2014-2023, with another 312 injured. In California during that same time period, 13,945 people were killed, with 20,233 injured.
Over that time, the number of people killed in the state peaked at 1,729 in 2021, with a low of 1,180 in 2015.
In this week’s cover story for the Weekly, Editor Sara Rubin and I looked into some of the state’s laws surrounding firearms, and what tools law enforcement and others have at their disposal to stem the tide of gun violence.
Gun violence restraining orders are a relatively new concept in California, where only law enforcement and a few others can request a court to ban a person from possessing guns for a certain amount of time. But whether it’s been effective in preventing violence, or even being utilized to its full extent, is an open question. Monterey County lags behind most of the state when it comes to issuing these orders, as I learned when reporting on this story.
New firearm-related laws went into effect this year. But they can only be effective if there are people who follow them, which is why “ghost guns” are on the rise among those seeking to skirt the law. These unserialized firearms, making them untraceable, can easily be crafted through a number of readily-available gun kits. Rubin spoke with local law enforcement agencies about how they are tackling this challenge.
Just as we were putting this issue to print, news broke in Prunedale of a man who reportedly shot and killed 80 animals on Tuesday, Sept. 3. Police said they found him to be in possession of 15 firearms, some of which were ghost guns.
More than 120 people in the United States are killed by guns every day, according to the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund. And despite the aforementioned numbers, the organization states California has “some of the lowest rates of gun deaths” in the country.
Sadly, someone was likely killed or injured by a gun in this country between the time I started writing this article to when I finished it. Many more will follow by the time you read this.
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