Americans for Responsible Solutions and the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence Outline Steps State Legislators Should Take to Help Prevent the Dangerously Mentally Ill from Accessing Guns

Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS), the gun violence prevention organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, retired combat veteran and NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly, and the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the country’s only law center focused on providing comprehensive legal expertise in support of gun violence prevention, today released a new report outlining the steps state legislators can take to help keep guns out of the hands of the dangerously mentally ill.

The new resource, “ Commonsense Solutions: How State Laws Can Reduce Gun Deaths Associated With Mental Illness, ” is the first new publication in a partnership between ARS and the San Francisco-based Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. It offers a series of proposals that state legislators should consider to address the breakdowns in state laws that allow the dangerously mentally ill to access guns. The proposals include:

• Complete reporting of all people prohibited from possessing firearms because of mental illness under federal law;

• Authorizing law enforcement officers to remove dangerous people’s access to guns, under court or administrative agency oversight;

• Requiring schools, including colleges and universities, to report people identified as violent or suicidal to a court or administrative agency charged with reviewing these reports;

• Allowing courts to issue “gun violence restraining orders” when concerned community members bring dangerous or suicidal people to their attention; and,

• Temporarily prohibiting people involuntarily hospitalized for mental illness under emergency circumstances from purchasing or possessing guns.

Click here to view the full report.

“The recent spate of mass shootings in our country have shown that existing state laws simply don’t do enough to keep people with dangerous mental illnesses from accessing guns. In response, legislators in statehouses across the country are asking what commonsense reforms they can make to keep guns out of the hands of the dangerously mentally ill and save lives, ” said Americans for Responsible Solutions 501(c)(4) Director Peter Ambler. “Drawing on this new resource, we hope state legislators can seize the opportunity to enact commonsense laws that will make their communities safer.”

“Far too many lives are lost when dangerous people have easy access to guns,” said Robyn Thomas, Executive Director of the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. “For over 20 years, the Law Center has provided legislators with the tools they need to enact smart gun laws in their communities. This in-depth toolkit provides insight into the nation’s gun laws and will empower lawmakers and community members to stop gun violence before it happens by keeping guns out of dangerous hands.”

Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS) was founded by Congresswoman Giffords and Captain Kelly in January 2013 in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting to find sensible ways to reduce gun violence and encourage elected officials to enact responsible firearms policies that protect the Second Amendment.

The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence (formerly known as the Legal Community Against Violence) was founded after the 1993 shooting in San Francisco that left eight dead. Today, it is the only national law center focused on providing comprehensive legal expertise in support of gun violence prevention and the promotion of smart gun laws that save lives. As a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, the Law Center is dedicated to preventing the loss of lives caused by gun violence by providing trusted, in-depth legal expertise and information on America’s gun laws.