In U.S. v. Rahimi, the Supreme Court held that the law may forbid gun possession by people subject to harassment restraining orders, when the orders were entered based on a showing of actual violence or domestic violence. Sometimes, such orders contain gun restrictions even without such a violence-related showing (see, e.g., the restraining order in the Sarrita Adams case, PDF p. 43); that, I think, violates the Second Amendment.
But in K.G. v. E.G., decided Monday by California Court of Appeal Judge Kathleen O'Leary, joined by Justices Thomas Goethals and Joanne Motoike, the trial judge had denied a domestic violence restraining order, and still issued a gun surrender order.
Appellant and respondent were married in 2009 and had three children. Respondent filed for dissolution of the marriage in 2021. During the ensuing period, respondent made various allegations against appellant, including that he had molested the couple's young daughter. The parties nevertheless stipulated to joint legal and physical custody, and the trial court (Judge David J. Hesseltine) adopted their agreement as a permanent custody order.
In 2022, the parties filed competing DVRO applications. As relevant here, appellant alleged that respondent had: coached their daughter to falsely accuse him of abuse; made other false allegations against him and threatened to make additional false allegations to extract concessions; hacked into his computer, accessed his e-mail account, and forwarded his e-mails to her account; and placed GPS tracking devices in his car. He claimed that the totality of respondent's misconduct was disturbing his peace….
During the DVRO hearing, the trial court learned that a California law enforcement registry showed a handgun registered to appellant under a former name. The court immediately made the firearm order, instructing appellant to "fill out a DV-800 [form] to relinquish [the gun]." Appellant told the court that he did not have a gun, but the court replied that he could still file the form. The court later stated that it had concerns about either party owning a firearm and asserted that it could "make findings pursuant to Family Code Section 3011 for the best interest of the minor children." Appellant subsequently testified that he relinquished the gun in 2009 and offered documentary evidence as corroboration.
