During a radio interview Monday evening, Governor Doug Ducey said he will ask lawmakers to adopt a law that would allow courts to take guns away from people who are violent or mentally ill. With backing of Governor Ducey, Arizona could be on verge of stricter gun laws:
Citing the massacre in Florida and other recent mass shootings, Ducey said parents and police need a tool so they can ask a judge to intervene in cases where a person has shown signs that they are a danger to others.
“If we can prevent it and use the power of the office and the law… that’s what we’re going to do and I intend to do it,” Ducey said during the interview on KTAR (92.3 FM). “I think we need to act in those situations.”
The interview came after governor held nine meetings last week about the issue. He met with lawmakers, educators, prosecutors, students and other groups to hear their ideas about how to improve school safety after the shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people.
Legislation Ducey described Monday could be part of a compromise proposal.
Well, governor, do your research. You do not have to reinvent the wheel because there already is model legislation from other states that addresses this issue.
In 1999, Connecticut became the first state to pass a law that allows police to preemptively remove firearms from persons deemed at risk of causing serious injury to others or self. The statute, C.G.S. § 29-38c, authorizes time-limited gun removal (for up to one year) under a civil court “risk warrant” process based on probable cause, even if the person of concern has no record of a gun-disqualifying mental health or criminal adjudication.