CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Republican member of the House of Delegates says there’s already a system in place that can be used to deal with mental health issues associated with firearms.
“In the current mental hygiene system we can get treatment and if we adopt this red flag law it’s just going to their home, stripping them of their weapons and then having a hearing at some point down the road,”
, a freshman Republican lawmaker from Barbour County said Friday on MetroNews “Talkline.”
Phillips and 25 other delegates came out on Thursday against West Virginia having a “red flag” law; Delegates Barbara Fleischauer, D-Monongalia, and John Doyle, D-Jefferson, announced earlier in the week they are drafting such legislation, which would allow people to petition a court to temporarily limit someone’s ability to access or purchase a firearm.
Their push for legislation is in light of mass shootings last weekend in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio.
Phillips said mass shootings are a mental health problem, and “red flag” laws do not to address mental health.
“I don’t believe that simply temporarily removing the guns from the situation is the answer if you have an individual who is intent upon committing a mass murder or even harming a family member themselves,” he said.
In Thursday’s statement, the 26 Republican delegates said the law would unfairly target veterans.
“West Virginia has a large veteran population that cannot be discouraged from seeking help by laws that would disproportionately strip them of the rights they have sacrificed so much to defend. We stand firm in our convictions to defend our constitutional rights and uphold the freedoms of all the people of West Virginia,” they said.
The legislators also pointed to the “breakdown of the family” as a reason shootings happen.
Fleischauer noted during an appearance on MetroNews “Talkline” this week there has to be bipartisan support in the state Legislature for any gun legislation to become law.