Should police be allowed to seize guns from the mentally ill?

Policing Matters

Following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, a great deal of attention was paid to the fact that the gunman had exhibited myriad signs of mental instability—hurting animals, threatening and/or fighting with other students, previous mental health treatment—that may have been enough for relatives or school authorities to ask law enforcement to keep him from possessing firearms. As of February 2019, more than a dozen states have laws on the books that allow local law enforcement to seize firearms from people diagnosed as mentally ill. In this podcast episode, Jim and Doug discuss the Constitutionality of such laws, and what they might mean in the larger context of the gun-control debate.