Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Bill Proposed to Take Guns from the Mentally Ill
Read story from source here.
Read an ongoing discussion of this issue here. and HERE.
Read more about this infamous police action shooting involving a mental patient go to the special report here.
Read another proposal in remembrance of the slained police officer here: Jake's Law
Bill would take guns from mentally ill
By Richard D. Walton
richard.walton@indystar.com
February 1, 2005
Mike Laird was at the microphone today. But he spoke, too, for his slain policeman son.
"I know for a fact he would want me to be here to lend my support for this bill," Mike Laird told a House committee considering a proposed law to keep guns out of the hands of the dangerously mentally ill in the wake of the Southside shooting spree last August that left three dead, including Indianapolis Officer Timothy "Jake" Laird.
"The guns need to be taken away and this would be a good way to get started," Mike Laird said.
Kenneth Anderson, who died in the incident, went on his rampage armed with weapons that had been seized by police in January 2004.
Police detained Anderson in January. He was evaluated at St. Francis Hospital and later treated at Valle Vista Hospital in Greenwood, before being released.
But with no followup findings of a criminal or psychological nature, IPD officials said they had no authority to retain the guns, which were returned to Anderson.
The measure, House Bill 1776, would allow authorities to retain weapons seized from someone believed to be dangerously mentally ill for 45 days. The prosecutor could then petition the court to extend the time that the weapons be held after a review of the suspect's mental state.
Mike Laird said he 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.
Read an ongoing discussion of this issue here. and HERE.
Read more about this infamous police action shooting involving a mental patient go to the special report here.
Read another proposal in remembrance of the slained police officer here: Jake's Law
Bill would take guns from mentally ill
By Richard D. Walton
richard.walton@indystar.com
February 1, 2005
Mike Laird was at the microphone today. But he spoke, too, for his slain policeman son.
"I know for a fact he would want me to be here to lend my support for this bill," Mike Laird told a House committee considering a proposed law to keep guns out of the hands of the dangerously mentally ill in the wake of the Southside shooting spree last August that left three dead, including Indianapolis Officer Timothy "Jake" Laird.
"The guns need to be taken away and this would be a good way to get started," Mike Laird said.
Kenneth Anderson, who died in the incident, went on his rampage armed with weapons that had been seized by police in January 2004.
Police detained Anderson in January. He was evaluated at St. Francis Hospital and later treated at Valle Vista Hospital in Greenwood, before being released.
But with no followup findings of a criminal or psychological nature, IPD officials said they had no authority to retain the guns, which were returned to Anderson.
The measure, House Bill 1776, would allow authorities to retain weapons seized from someone believed to be dangerously mentally ill for 45 days. The prosecutor could then petition the court to extend the time that the weapons be held after a review of the suspect's mental state.
Mike Laird said he 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.
