BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — A bill in the Louisiana legislature looks to help curb the high rates of veteran suicides by creating a program to let them voluntarily turn over firearms for a short time.
There are programs around the country where people can voluntarily turn in their firearms for a temporary amount of time if they feel they shouldn’t be around them for however long. House Bill 260 by Rep. Tanner Magee would create protections for the dealers that they turn them into.
How the program works is that someone can bring their firearm to a dealer to sign a contract saying they will hold on to their guns for the length of time they agree on if someone feels they can’t be around them. At the end of the contract – the dealer gives it back.
“So we’re trying to create a situation where they would want to give it up and we’re trying to avoid any sort of confrontation where the dealer feels like he needs to intervene,” Rep. Magee said.
Since it is a voluntary program there is no official determination of if the person is of sound mind to get the guns back, which some fear will lead to lawsuits.
“We want to remove any hesitation that that dealer may have about giving the gun back and limit his liability. Obviously, if he thinks he’s going to be sued if he has a gun and gives it back to you,” Rep. Magee said.
A veteran who came to testify says Louisiana has a high rate of veteran suicides. Caleb Morse is a firearm retailer and he already partakes in the program to help reduce that number.
“By giving time, the time between the thought and the process to actually picking up the firearm, because roughly 80% of suicides in Louisiana are by firearms, we can increase the time of life and decrease the risk of that suicide,” Morse said.
The program also allows for someone else to bring firearms in for a loved one to temporarily hold. There are still laws on the books to have law enforcement take firearms if someone is a danger. People do have to go through the courts to get their firearms back if they are involuntarily taken.
The bill was supported by veterans groups as well as a researcher at LSU. It passed the committee without any objection and heads to the full House for debate.