The San Diego County Board of Supervisors has failed to advance a study on gun violence along with recommendations, with supervisors deadlocking Tuesday on a 2-2 vote.
Prepared by Health Assessment and Research for Communities, the study offered statistics, public input, key findings and methods to lessen the problem, including safe gun storage.
Board Chairwoman Nora Vargas and Vice Chair Terra Lawson-Remer voted in favor of the study, while Supervisors Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond were opposed.
According to the county board clerk, the board may consider formally approving the report at a future meeting.
Get San Diego local news, weather forecasts, sports and lifestyle stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
Vargas said the study was especially important and cited Monday's death of a 1-year-old girl who was accidentally shot and killed by her 3-year-old sibling in Fallbrook.
Earlier in the meeting, Vargas said the plan "in no way restricts or limits gun ownership."
Local
But Desmond said the report showed him that "we're dealing with a mental health crisis. That's absolutely where the focus needs to be."
HARC researcher Daniel Polk said community engagement was at the center of the study, and noted two surveys with over 1,000 responses, 12 public forums, a 16-member community advisory group, online public feedback and regular project updates.
He added that a variety of data sources were used, including emergency medical services, county agencies, the Automated Regional Justice Information System and independent research organizations.
One study finding revealed that from 2017-22, there were 1,310 deaths from firearms in the county. The majority of gun deaths were suicides (70%), while 28% were homicides. The remaining 3% were accidents or undetermined. The firearm-related homicide rate increased by 56.3%, while the firearm-related suicide rate fell 18%.
Polk said he and others "heard a wide range of perspectives" on gun violence, with mental illness, drug abuse, crime, gang violence and lack of family/social support systems being listed as factors.
The public offered solutions such as better mental health care, strict enforcement of penalties for crimes, funding for community organizations, after-school programs and domestic violence support services.
The recommendations "are a starting point for the county," Polk said.
Most people who spoke at Tuesday's public hearing supported making the report part of county policy.
Jill Cooper, of Never Again California and a retired teacher, discussed the experience of participating in a mass-shooting drill at a school.
"What if we could be proactive and turn troubled potential shooters away from violence?" Cooper asked. She added that the report shows what communities know: Gun violence is destroying them, and putting youth at risk.
Elizabeth Munoz, a member of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, said her son was murdered in 2015 by gang members with guns.
"He was taken from us for no reason," she said. "The work you all have already started is so important for our community. From a mother of a murdered child: We need more."
Michael Schwartz of San Diego County Gun Owners said his group participated in the report listening sessions, offered feedback and went to presentations on the final results.
"It became pretty clear that the results from this study do not present the epidemic or crisis that the political rhetoric from the anti-gun groups" claim, he said. Schwartz said the county in generally is extremely safe and while tragic, gun deaths are a rarity.
He said the county already funds gun violence prevention, in the form of law enforcement, mental health programs and gang prevention efforts.
"We don't need more bureaucracy," he added.
Before the vote, Lawson-Remer also mentioned the Fallbrook tragedy and added that "if the gun had been safely stored, we might be having a different outcome. Safe storage saves lives."
"All of us are heartbroken over the constant drum beat of mass shootings," she added. "We have the power to change this."
However, Desmond pointed out that one in five adults in the United States now lives with mental illness, and the San Diego Union-Tribune earlier this year reported that the rate of adults placed on 72-hour mental-health hold has almost doubled.
A safely stored gun is not violent, and clearly children shouldn't have access to loaded firearms, Desmond said. He said the recommendations don't go far enough in terms of mental health treatment, and that he wanted to see more emphasis on promoting safe storage.
In a statement after the vote, Anderson said gun violence "is abhorrent, and I think we should focus on addressing the root of the issues."
Anderson added that 70% of total gun deaths were due to suicide, and "this is why I have focused on investing in mental health, suicide prevention, law enforcement, and opportunities for people to improve their lives so that they don't turn to suicide and violence."
