SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Polling shows people in California say they don't feel safe from gun violence.
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Part of the problem is the perception that people are helpless to stop the shooting.
The prevalence of gun violence isn't just a matter of people who have been directly impacted but also those who live with the fear that gun violence may find them.
"One in five Californians say they know someone – often it's a friend or a family member – whom they perceive to be at risk of physically harming themselves or others," said Nicole Kravitz-Wirtz, a researcher with the Violence Prevention Research Program at UC Davis Health.
According to Kravitz-Wirtz, a quarter of those who said they knew someone who they perceived as a risk felt it was likely that person would harm themselves or others in the next 12 months.
"The ability to identify when someone is in crisis or behaving dangerously or exhibiting sort of other warning signs has been recognized as an important component of comprehensive efforts to prevent firearm violence," she said.
And yet, research shows that two-thirds of people in California have never heard of red flag laws or gun violence restraining orders.
"What we want to be able to do is have people not only identify situations in which risk might be elevated but then also be able to respond to that risk," she said.
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