As defined by Birkland, a focusing event is: “sudden, relatively uncommon; can be reasonably defined as harmful or revealing the possibility of potentially greater future harms; has harms that are concentrated in a particular geographical area or community of interest; and that is known to policy makers and the public simultaneously” (Birkland 54).
Focusing events frequently lead to policy change by providing pro-change groups and policy entrepreneurs with a causal story to illustrate that existing policy somehow has failed. Furthermore, the immediate media coverage prevents anti-change forces from framing a policy problem or suppressing action. The impact of individual focusing events depends upon a host of factors including extent of media coverage, event magnitude, and ability to identify remedies. Therefore, focusing events often can be recognized only in retrospect. The units of government that respond and the ultimate policy response are at least partially dependent upon the nature of interest groups and coalitions. If coalitions are not well organized, policy change may not quickly follow events.
This was the situation in California at the beginning of the 1990s when Handgun Control, Inc. was the only statewide gun control lobbying group. Thus, focusing events tended to spark interest group formation and the development of policy alternatives rather than immediate, direct change. Only in the City of Pomona did violence lead immediately to action; the city council quickly adopted a previously tabled gun control ordinance after six people were killed in one weekend in 1997.
New gun control interest groups in California chose to devote a large portion of their time and resources toward the development of local ordinances, since local governments appeared to be more receptive to advocacy efforts than the state legislature. Following adoption of a statewide ban on assault weapons and a firearms purchase waiting period in 1989-90, gun control advocates and a few legislative entrepreneurs unsuccessfully tried to pass additional state legislation through most of the...............
