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Senate holding firearm restrictions legislation
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by Michael Evert
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Nearly a year after the Virginia Tech shootings, a state Senate bill that would prevent some mentally unstable persons from purchasing firearms remains uncertain after Senate Democrats moved the proposal into committee.
The bill, which has already been passed in the Republican-controlled Assembly, would prevent a person that has been involuntarily committed for mental health reasons from purchasing firearms. Mental health information would be given to National Instant Background Check System, the federal database for firearm background checks.
Current Wisconsin privacy laws do not allow mental health information to be transferred to NICS, a rule that would change if the bill were passed. Leading Democrats in the Senate have sent the bill to the Joint Committee on Finance, a move that angered some Republicans who believe the move was a deliberate measure to kill the proposal.
Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, and author of the proposal, said moving the bill into committee would effectively destroy any chance the measure would pass. John Hogan, an aide to Darling, said Democrats had no reason to resist the bill.
“This is a federal mandate that has to get done and can get done for a minute amount of money.”
According to Hogan, the estimated $39,000 price tag of implementing the bill should be “no reason” to hold the bill in the Joint Committee on Finance. Hogan said there was almost no possibility the bill would be voted on in that committee before the next Senate session.
Carrie Lynch, a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, said the accusations that Democrats were trying to take down the bill were unfounded and that Senate Democrats do not oppose the principle of the proposal.
“Sen. Decker is not opposed to the bill,” Lynch said. “But given that we are facing a pretty large deficit, it should be reviewed by the Joint Committee on Finance to see if the cost could be absorbed.”
Lynch also contested the claim that sending the bill to the Joint Committee on Finance would doom the proposal.
“All that needs to happen is for the Joint Finance Committee to meet. I see no reason this cannot happen,” Lynch said.
Dale Burke, assistant police chief of the University of Wisconsin Police Department, said that if passed, the law would improve safety on campus and beyond.
“It’s an added piece of legislation that helps to makes not only campuses but also our communities safer places,” Burke said. “In order to do that we need to make sure that guns don’t fall into the hands of people who have unlawful intent.”
Since the Virginia Tech shootings, 9 states have enacted similar laws, making a total of 32 states that have such laws in place.
Burke said great strides have been made on all UW System campuses since the Virginia Tech shootings to prevent such an event.
A recent report issued by the UWPD laid out guidelines for preventing a shooting on campus. The report focused on improving communication and awareness of “troubling behavior” among UW staff, faculty, parents and students.
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