If doctors or therapists spot someone who is a clear and present danger to themselves or others, they are supposed to report that within 24 hours so police can decide whether it’s appropriate to temporarily remove guns from that person’s possession.
But Dan Kotowski, president and CEO of the nonprofit Kids Above All, says too many physicians, clinical psychologists and qualified examiners don’t know about the law. That’s a flaw that needs fixing.
Under the law, guns can be temporarily removed from someone who demonstrates “threatening physical or verbal behavior such as violent, suicidal or assaultive threats, actions or other behavior.”
That makes sense. The Oct. 25 mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, is an example of what can happen if someone with serious mental health issues has access to powerful firearms. In that case, Robert Card, who had received mental health treatment, used an AR-15-style weapon to kill 18 people and injure more than a dozen others at a bowling alley and a bar.
Kotowski, then a state legislator, helped enact Illinois’ law after 32 people were killed and 17 were wounded in a 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech by a gunman who had been treated for severe mental health issues.
Illinois’ law says the Department of Human Services must be notified of someone who is a “clear and present danger.” The department is then required to notify state police, who in turn withdraw the person’s firearm owner’s identification card and notify local police so they can remove any guns from the person’s possession.
But to forestall shootings or suicides, police have to know who is a “clear and present danger.” If professionals don’t report it, police can’t act.
To ensure word gets to police, Kotowski says training on the law should be added to the existing certification and license renewal process doctors, clinical psychologists and qualified examiners undergo already.
Legislation to require that is under discussion, Kotowski said.
“There are thousands of people who are in a clinical setting who may present a risk,” Kotowski told us. “There is no reason why we should not have a law on the books [so that] everyone knows this law exists.”
This isn’t an attempt to penalize health care professionals. But if they don’t know what the law requires, they might not take the steps needed to protect communities.
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