Rep. Thompson Offers Bill to Keep Guns from Criminals, Dangerously Mentally Ill

U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, introduced legislation yesterday to help states launch initiatives to remove guns from the hands of convicted criminals and the dangerously mentally ill.

Thompson introduce the legislation at a press conference at 12:40 p.m. PST in Washington, D.C.  He was joined at the press conference by California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris and law enforcement officials. 

The conference began just a couple hours before a double police homicide in Santa Cruz shook the beachside community.

Along with co-sponsor task force vice-chair Jackie Speier (CA-14), the two introduced H.R. 848, the Armed Prohibited Persons Act of 2013. It would establish a competitive grant program within the Department of Justice for states that voluntarily develop a system that removes firearms from people who bought them legally, but later lost their right to own those firearms by committing a crime or being deemed dangerously mentally ill.

“The NRA is the first to say that we need to get the guns out of the hands of criminals. This bill does just that. We anxiously await their support,” said Speier.

“No matter which side of this debate you are on, no one wants criminals or people with a history of dangerous mental illness to have guns,” said Thompson.

“This bill does nothing to limit a law abiding citizen’s Second Amendment Rights. It simply gives states an incentive to develop successful programs that will keep guns out of the hands of people we all agree shouldn’t have them."

This legislation is modeled after a 2001 California state law that established the state’s Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS). California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris endorsed the legislation.

"California's armed and prohibited persons program is a proactive, smart, efficient tool that is taking firearms out of the hands of people who are prohibited from possessing them,” said Attorney General Harris.

The state's APPS helps make sure those convicted of certain crimes or deemed to be dangerously mentally ill relinquish or sell any firearms they own.

Since 2007, under California’s APPS, law enforcement has collected more than 10,000 guns from people who after legally purchasing them, became prohibited from owning them. More than 11,000 assault magazines have also been seized.

Last year alone, more than 1,800 firearms where taken out of the hands of convicted criminals and the dangerously mentally ill.

Specifically, the Armed Prohibited Persons Act of 2013 would make grants available to States who:

• Develop programs with the goal of removing firearms from armed prohibited persons;
• Provide assurances that an armed prohibited person will have a reasonable opportunity to lawfully dispose of their firearms before the State takes action to retrieve them;
• Will contribute pertinent information to the National Criminal Instant Background Checks System (NICS); and
• Can sustain the operation of the proposed program.

H.R. 848 has been referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

This material adapted from a press office statement. Congressman Mike Thompson represents California’s 5th Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma Counties.