The 101 California Street shooting was a mass shooting on July 1, 1993, in San Francisco, California, United States. The killings sparked a number of legal and legislative actions that were precursors to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, H.R. 3355, 103rd Congress. The Act took effect in 1994 and expired in September 2004 after the expiration of a sunset provision. At the time, the incident was the deadliest mass shooting in the Bay Area's history, being surpassed 28 years later by the 2021 San Jose shooting.

Shootings

At 2:57 p.m. 55-year-old failed entrepreneur Gian Luigi Ferri (born December 29, 1937, as Gianluigi Ettore Ferri) entered an office building at 101 California Street in San Francisco and made his way to the offices of the law firm Pettit & Martin on the 34th floor. Ferri's reason for targeting that particular firm is unknown, though Ferri had just weeks earlier expressed his strong grudge against lawyers in general when asked by Los Angeles barber Keith Blum, "If you were locked in a room with Saddam, the Ayatollah Khomeini and a lawyer, and you had a gun with two bullets in it, who would you shoot?" Ferri, who had heard the gag before, replied, "The lawyer—twice." P&M had redirected him to alternative legal counsel about some real estate deals in the Midwest in 1981, and had no contact with him in the 12 years since they could not advise him on matters out of state. After exiting an elevator, Ferri donned a pair of ear protectors and opened fire with a pair of TEC-9 handguns and a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun. He reportedly used a mix of Black Talon hollow point and standard ammunition and used Hell-Fire trigger systems for the TEC-9 pistols. After roaming the 34th floor, he moved down one floor through an internal staircase and continued shooting. The attack continued on several floors before Ferri committed suicide as San Francisco Police closed in. Eight people were killed in the attack, and six others injured. The reason for the shootings was never fully determined. A typed letter left behind by Ferri contained a list of complaints, but the letter was largely unintelligible. Four single spaced pages in length, the letter contained many grammatical errors, misspellings and was typed in all caps. Ferri claimed he had been poisoned by monosodium glutamate (MSG), a flavor enhancer in food, and that he had been "raped" by Pettit & Martin and other firms. The letter also contained complaints against the Food and Drug Administration, the legal profession, and a list of over 30 "criminals, rapists, racketeeres [sic], lobbyists", none of whom were among his actual victims. Pettit & Martin occupied floors 33 (partial floor) and 34 through 36. The main reception floor was 35 and Ferri intended that floor as a target. His elevator stopped at the 34th floor because a secretary from that floor had pushed the up button for an elevator. As a result, Ferri began shooting on the 34th floor and worked his way down to lower floors.

Victims

Killed

Injured

Reaction

The shootings spurred calls for tighter gun control and were followed by a number of legal and legislative actions. California implemented some of the toughest gun laws in the United States. A number of organizations were formed in the wake of the shootings, including Legal Community Against Violence, which acts as a resource for information on federal, state, and local firearms policies. The American Jewish Congress founded the Jack Berman Advocacy Center to lobby and organize with regard to gun control and violence reduction. At the time of the attack, the law firm of Pettit & Martin were already on the decline, and the attack was a brutal blow to the struggling firm. After the defections of several partners, the firm dissolved in 1995.