Story highlights Joshua Horwitz: Law enforcement, family should be able to ask courts to take guns away from troubled people who may commit violence

California lawmakers approved Gun Violence Restraining Order that could be a national model, he says

Joshua Horwitz is executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, a research and advocacy organization. An attorney, he has represented victims and municipalities in lawsuits against the gun industry and is the co-author of "Guns, Democracy, and the Insurrectionist Idea." The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.

(CNN) Following Thursday's tragedy in a movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana -- in which a gunman killed two people and wounded nine others -- America is once again searching for answers to how such a massacre could have been prevented. At this point we can hardly go a week without a high-profile mass shooting in this country, and the slaughter in Charleston and Chattanooga is still fresh in our minds.

Joshua Horwitz

The gun lobby's response of "more guns" is predictable (and critical to its industry's financial prospects), but Americans who are truly concerned about this violence are asking a different question: How can we keep those who are in crisis, and at an elevated risk of violence, from obtaining firearms?

A policy recently enacted in California, the Gun Violence Restraining Order, or GVRO, would seem to hold enormous promise for those looking to stop the next gunman before he can carry out his plans.

The GVRO is based on the same principle as a domestic violence restraining order. It would allow family members and/or law enforcement to go before a judge and request that guns be temporarily removed from an individual who is likely to be dangerous toward himself and/or others (while allowing for due process).

Notably, a GVRO does not rely solely on mental illness as a marker for violence. As research shows, the overwhelming majority of individuals with mental illness will never be violent toward others (the risk of self-harm is far greater). Stronger indicators of risk include a history of violent behavior, domestic violence and drug or alcohol abuse.