We Must Strengthen Our Efforts to Prevent Gun Violence

By Senator Catherine S. Blakespear 

June is Gun Violence Prevention Month, and in the wake of the terrible shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego that left three victims dead, the topic is as relevant as ever.

America is awash in firearms. With a nationwide population of nearly 350 million people, it is estimated that there are over 500 million guns in circulation. That fact presents our society with immense dangers and challenges.

In California, we’ve made great strides in reducing gun violence thanks to common sense gun safety laws and follow through legislation to make sure they are being fully and properly implemented. Law enforcement’s partnership on implementing the law and promoting responsible gun ownership has been paramount.

We were the first state in the nation to adopt a “red flag law” in 2016, and today, we have a broad system with nine types of protection orders that restrict access to firearms for people who are at high risk of committing violence, such as those with domestic violence restraining orders or people put on 72-hour mandatory mental health holds.

The result is California has one of the lowest gun death rates in the nation (7 deaths per 100,000 in population, compared with the 12.8 deaths per 100,000 national average). To illustrate, when we contrast California with Mississippi, where there is no state permit required to purchase a firearm, no waiting period, no firearm registration, no assault weapon ban and silencers are legal, there are 28 deaths per 100,000 people. The bottom line is that responsible gun ownership laws reduce gun violence.

But while we can take some comfort in our progress, that is not good enough. In a modern society, we should be able to go to school, places of worship, work or you name it without worrying about possible gun violence.

The cost of our gun violence problem is high, not only in the death toll, but in the danger, anxiety and stress it creates across society, especially for youth. It is the leading cause of death for children and adolescents. According to a study by the Giffords Law Center, gun violence costs California more than $18 billion a year, with $1.4 billion in direct costs to taxpayers for police responses, emergency medical treatments and criminal justice operations.

Furthermore, access to guns enables suicide — more than half of gun violence deaths are due to suicide.

What more can we do to prevent gun violence in California? What more should we do?

It starts with education and understanding. That’s why I’m teaming up this month with The OpEd Project to launch Voices of Prevention. The idea is simple: to elevate diverse, knowledgeable perspectives on the gun violence ravaging our communities.

We need greater understanding and new ideas. Allowing the status quo to remain is simply unacceptable.

My heart goes out to the victims of the San Diego Islamic Center shooting and their families. Freedom of religion is one of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, and everyone in this country should be able to worship in peace, without fear of violence or discrimination.

Like in so many other recent shootings, the two perpetrators of the Islamic Center shooting were young, isolated men who were radicalized by the internet. They were in need of healthy community, mental health counseling, mentoring, caring and rational guidance.

As The New York Times wrote, “The attack was yet another example of how the combination of alienated young men with access to guns and a hateful online community that welcomes them can lead to a spasm of real-world violence.”

There are so many layers to gun violence in America. And we need to address them all. This month, let’s renew our efforts to identify the root causes of gun violence, share what is working and work to build a society where gun deaths are not an everyday occurrence that threaten our families, communities and basic freedoms.

This op-ed originally appeared in the San Diego Union-Tribune on June 10, 2026.