As he promised, Rep. Steve Handy has introduced a bill that would allow the police to get a court order to take away the guns of an “extremely dangerous” person.
Handy’s legislation is a result of the school shooting in Florida that left 17 people dead.
The young man arrested for the crime, and confessed to it, had been making public threats for some time, and yet was still able to buy semi-automatic rifles and large rounds of ammunition.
HB483 appears to be comprehensive, for it is not limited to spouses making a claim against a person, but family members or someone who lived with the person in the last six months, to go to the police and courts in an attempt to get some kind of official action to get the troubled person’s guns.
And it’s not just that the dangerous person could harm someone else, the bill would apply to the person himself, if he had been doing things that make others believe he is a danger to himself, i.e. suicide.
The taking of the arms would expire 20 days after it begins, but within that time the dangerous person must appear before a judge to see if further action is needed to protect him from himself or others.
If the gun-taking order is extended, then it must be reviewed after 180 days to see if it should go on or be vacated and the person get his guns back.
Handy, R-Layton, doesn’t have much time to get his bill approved, lawmakers adjourn midnight March 8.
