Rep. Mike Thompson to host gun violence hearing in Sacramento

With the nation still reeling from a mass shooting in San Bernardino, Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, plans to convene a Sacramento hearing on gun violence next Monday.

California has some of the most stringent gun control laws of any state. But efforts to impose tougher federal controls consistently founder, a gap Gov. Jerry Brown highlighted in a plea for “the federal government to catch up with California.”

Thompson, who chairs the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, has joined other Democratic lawmakers in pushing Congress to lift a ban on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dollars funding research into gun violence.

That issue will likely resurface during Monday’s hearing at the Capitol. Planned witnesses include Capitola Police Chief Rudy Escalante, who heads the California Police Chiefs Association’s firearms committee, and representatives of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the California Highway Patrol.

This story was originally published December 8, 2015 at 11:43 AM with the headline "Rep. Mike Thompson to host gun violence hearing in Sacramento."