New Year Brings New Laws

05:13

January 01, 2016

Students gather on the UC Santa Barbara campus for a candlelight vigil for those affected by the mass killing in Isla Vista on May 24, 2014 in Santa Barbara, California. A national conversation brewed around the event about whether police could have done more to keep a gun out of the hands of gunman Elliot Rodger, a mentally disturbed 22-year-old man, who fatally shot himself after the rampage. (Spencer Weiner/Getty Images)

California law enforcement agencies will get a new tool in January that they hope could prevent mass shootings. The new law is drawing criticism from gun rights advocates, while last month’s San Bernardino shooting has supporters hoping to expand its reach.

The law was written in response to a mass shooting near Santa Barbara in May 2014. A young man killed six people and injured 13 after his parents had warned law enforcement he could be dangerous. Within months, California had a new law allowing family members or law enforcement officials to seek a temporary “gun violence restraining order” against someone they believe could be dangerous.

Here & Now's Robin Young discusses the new legislation with Capital Public Radio's Ben Adler in Sacramento.

Other state laws that take effect January 1, 2016:

Hawaii became the first state to raise the legal smoking age to 21.
Tennessee launched a first-in-the-country statewide registry of animal abusers.
And in Oregon, 300 new laws took effect, including allowing drives to pump their own gas in some rural counties. (Oregon and New Jersey restrict allow self-service gas stations.)

Guest

Ben Adler, capitol bureau chief of Capital Public Radio in Sacramento.

This segment aired on January 1, 2016.