It’s not unusual for a Democrat to introduce a gun control bill to the state Legislature. Typically, the proposals are dead on arrival in the Republican-controlled Senate and Assembly. But in a sign of how the debate on gun control might be shifting because of recent mass shootings, a new proposal has some Republican support.
State Assembly Rep. Melissa Sargent (D-Madison) has proposed a pair of gun control bills that would create temporary ways of removing firearms from people who might use them to harm themselves or others. The “Red Flag Bill” would allow family members or law enforcement to petition the courts to have firearms removed from someone’s home or possession, Sargent says.
The bill would create something similar to a restraining order, outlining protocols that could allow firearms to be removed, she says. “It’s not like someone is going to walk into your house and take your guns without some serious vetting and conversation.”
But, “if there’s sound reasoning that this person is going to be harmful to themselves or other people, there are steps that can be taken” to remove the guns, she says.
Sargent’s second bill, the “Self-Exclusion Bill,” would allow people to put themselves on a list that would block them from passing a background check. A person could choose to be blocked for one, five or 20 years. Sargent modeled this bill after others elsewhere in the country that were implemented to curb chronic gambling. Those on the list are barred from partaking in regulated gambling.
Sargent says her gun self-exclusion bill “puts some distance between you and your ability to purchase a firearm from a facility that does background checks.”
Both bills address two issues that are connected
