The Delaware House could vote Tuesday on legislation removing firearms from people suffering from a mental health crisis. The goal is to prevent people who are homicidal or suicidal from accessing a gun.
The bill sponsored by State Rep. David Bentz requires health providers to tell law enforcement if a patient is a danger to themselves or others. Law enforcement could then get a court to issue an emergency order for that patient to give up their weapons.
Under the legislation, the court could also bar that person from living with someone who owns guns.
Attorney Karen Lantz, with ACLU of Delaware, said that could force a mentally ill person to lose their living situation for a couple months or more.
“This is concerning on a couple of levels," she said. "From a policy perspective, we’re not sure how this makes anybody safer, to push someone in a mental health crisis into a situation where they may be homeless.”
Lantz said she’s also concerned the government could force a person to leave their home without an immediate court hearing.
But Bentz said it wouldn’t make sense to remove someone’s guns, while allowing them to live somewhere where firearms are accessible.
“It’s not something I take lightly, but you know, there really wouldn’t be any purpose for doing the bill at all if we were to allow that big of a loophole to exist within it,” he said.
Under the bill, the state would need to petition the court within 60 days to take a person’s weapons away indefinitely - and have a hearing. Bentz adds he plans to amend that timeframe to have the hearing within 30 days.
Lantz said ACLU does not oppose the bill, despite its reservations.
