SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KGTV) - For months, a San Diego man sent emails to a local elementary school, threatening to commit a mass shooting.
However, since the threats were made against an institution and not a person, lawmakers say the current law allows people to get away with it without getting in trouble.
Two years ago, Shoal Creek Elementary School confronted multiple threats of a mass shooting.
Lee Lor, a 39-year-old marine combat veteran, sent over 350 emails threatening to commit a mass shooting.
While nothing ever happened, the incident is getting attention at the state capitol. Assemblymember Darshana Patel wants to push back against similar types of threats.
Her bill would close what many believe are several loopholes in the law, it would make it a crime for a person to threaten with an image or threat posted or published on the internet to commit a crime at a specific location.
It would be a crime even if there was no intent on actually carrying it out and if the statement is taken as a threat.
Right now, Patel said threats are only illegal if they're credible, specific and targeted at a specific individual.
"If this bill passes, it will not only deter potential threats but also provide a sense of safety and assurance to our community members, especially those who are most vulnerable," said Patel.
The bill would make the crime punishable for not more than one year or by imprisonment for 16 months or 2 or 3 years.
"Because our laws when it comes to threats are just too weak," said Summer Stephan, the San Diego District Attorney. "They have too many loopholes. We want to wait until something actually horrible happens when we know when school shooters, often, and pretty much in 80 percent of the cases, disclose publicly in some form, their intent to do harm."
The bill passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee unanimously. It now heads to the Appropriation Committee.
Lor is currently in jail. A judge recently ordered him to stand trial for the threats.
