Bill would take guns from mentally ill By Richard D. Walton
richard.walton@indystar.com
February 1, 2005
Mike Laird stood at the microphone Tuesday. But he spoke, too, for his slain policeman son.
Laird told legislators he supports a House bill to keep guns out of the hands of the dangerously mentally ill in the wake of the Southside shooting spree last August that left Indianapolis Officer Timothy "Jake" Laird dead. The elder Laird said he knew Jake would want him to back the measure.
"The guns need to be taken away, and this would be a good way to get started," Mike Laird said.
Kenneth C. Anderson, who also killed his mother and wounded four other officers before being fatally shot by police, went on his rampage armed with at least one of the weapons -- a SKS assault-style rifle -- that had been seized by police in January 2004.
Police had detained Anderson, who had made bizarre comments about people being out to get him. He was evaluated at St. Francis Hospital and later treated at Valle Vista Hospital in Greenwood before being released.
But Anderson was not criminally charged in the January incident, and his condition -- he was diagnosed as delusional with drug and alcohol problems -- did not come under court scrutiny. Neither did his competence to possess firearms.
IPD determined it had no legal authority to retain the weapons. They were returned to Anderson in March.
The measure before the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, House Bill 1776, would allow authorities to retain weapons seized from someone believed to be dangerously mentally ill for up to 45 days.
During that period, the prosecutor could petition the court to extend the time the weapons are held after a court-ordered review of the suspect's mental state.
Mike Laird believes such a law could have made all the difference last year.
"I mean, my son would be alive today if this law had been in place," he said.
Also speaking on behalf of the measure were representatives of the Indiana Fraternal Order of Police, Mayor Bart Peterson and the Indianapolis Police Department.
IPD Lt. Brian Clouse painfully recalled looking out over the Southside neighborhood at 8 a.m. that tragic Aug. 18 morning. "As the sun started to light up the area, you could see the carnage," he said.
Clouse said Illinois, Hawaii, California and Connecticut have adopted legislation similar to the one proposed here. In Connecticut, a study showed 70 cases resulted in warrants for the seizure of 729 guns, he said. Numerous states permit people to recover their seized weapons only by appearing at a hearing before a judge.
Steven R. Eichholtz, a former Marion Superior Court judge who advocates on behalf of the Mental Health Association in Indiana, said he supported the bill. But he urged caution.
He said a balance between the protection of officers and the rights of people with mental illness must be struck.
"When should the judicial determination be made?" Eichholtz said. "Forty-five days is a long time."
But one lawmaker proposed lengthening the period. Rep. Vern Tincher, D-Riley, a former Indiana state trooper, suggested holding seized weapons up to 90 days without a need for a gun-retention hearing.
Another of the bill's provisions, which would allow the gun owner to petition the court every six months for return of his weapons, also met with an effort to extend the time period. Rep. Michael Murphy, R-Indianapolis, questioned whether that is long enough for an apparently disturbed person to demonstrate an ability to safely own guns.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Lawrence Buell, R-Indianapolis, expressed a willingness to consider amendments. But he stressed that his bill would not permit police to take people's guns "just because they feel they want to."
In Anderson's case, the weapons were taken after police determined the cache posed an immediate threat given his erratic behavior. He was held under an emergency detention law.
The House committee postponed a vote on HB 1776 to work on proposed changes.
To Jake Laird's father, the measure is as much for the protection of the mentally ill person as for the police officer.
"It protects him from getting shot or shooting himself," Mike Laird said in an interview. "It works both ways."
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