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	Vol.7, No 11, September 16, 1999
	Bill to keep guns from mentally unstable By Sarah LaVoie Daily Forty-Niner The California State Assembly voted Sept. 8 to approve a bill that would prohibit a suicidal or homicidal person from owning a firearm. The bill, AB 1587, authored by Assemblyman Jack Scott, D-Pasadena, chairman of the Select Committee on Gun Violence, addresses concerns raised by the Sacramento Superior Court about similar legislation passed eight years ago, which prevented individuals deemed dangerous to themselves or others from owning a firearm for five years. AB 1587 adds new provisions to the 1991 measure that was defeated in court on questions of its limiting due process. According to Paul Donahue, Scott's chief consultant, the change affords individuals the right to a hearing determining whether they are capable of owning a firearm in a safe and lawful manner.  The measure also requires a psychiatric institution to notify the Department of Justice when an individual is brought in under California Welfare and Institutions Code section 5150, the law allowing the state to place someone under protective custody for 72 hours for psychiatric evaluation.  This should allow the law to be operable and presumably enforceable, said Donahue.  "People that have been clinically diagnosed as a danger to themselves or to other people, meaningfully, won't be able to own firearms," Donahue said. Campus reactions to the bill are mixed. "It's a good law, but it could be ambiguous, too," said Gary Frazer, retired law enforcement officer, public health and safety administrator, and currently a guest lecturer at CSULB. Computer Ethics Professor Dennis Rice agrees. "It could be difficult to implement and enforce," Rice said. Crystal Buack, a junior finance major, supports the measure. "If they can't control themselves, how can they control a gun?" she asked. "What's the purpose of owning a gun anyway, to shoot and kill someone, right?" says Daniel Taddesse, a senior finance major, who also supports the new bill. When an individual is brought in under Section 5150, in order to admit someone for the mandatory 72-hour hold, a clinical evaluation is required. "Someone can't just say they think that another person is crazy and have them put on a hold, it has to be clinically determined," said Donahue. University Police Det. Scott Brown said he is prepared to enforce the new bill, although University policy currently prohibits anyone other than a working police officer from bringing a firearm on campus at any time.  "If that's what the state Legislature wants, I will support that,î Brown said. "I don't make the laws, I just enforce them."		Illustration by Jason Steinberg/ Daily Forty-Niner CSU raises admission standards Students mingle with employers High Schoolers focus of new bill Bookstore sales up despite Web stores Bill to keep guns from mentally unstable Assembly bill may reduce area code confusion Cultural center celebrates diversity on campus Police need policing Out-of-wedlock birth decline at what cost Mr. Mike comes through Magic wins with 'Thuggin' High school ballers show off their skills Coach Gimmillaro looking forward to challenge Best of the West face-off at USC Fall 99 ISSUES DAILY 49ER HOMEPAGE
Forty-Niner Publications, Department of Journalism, California State University, Long Beach ©1999 All rights reserved.