Southern California Public Radio noted the orders could result in a confiscatory action without prior warning given to the gun owner, "In other words, a judge could issue the order without ever hearing from the person in question, if there are reasonable grounds to believe the person is a threat based on accounts from the family and police."

The Los Angeles Times reports "1,285 gun-violence restraining orders were issued by judges in California last year, temporarily removing firearms from people deemed a danger."

Guns were confiscated from 1,110 people in California in 2019.

On May 27, 2015, the National Journal quoted UCLA law professor Adam Winkler saying Gun Violence Restraining Orders really will "not … make a huge dent in our gun violence statistics."