CLEVELAND — A Cleveland doctor is suggesting an addition to protective orders proposed by Senator Marco Rubio earlier this year which would enforce emergency measures when dealing with firearms and people with a history of mental illness or violent behavior.
Under that proposal, a family member or law enforcement officer could petition a court for a temporary protective order to confiscate guns from someone believed to be a danger to themselves or the public.
Doctor Brian Barnett believes doctors should also be able to sound the alarm on patients they believe could pose a threat.
“We screen all the patients who come through for gun ownership,” Barnett said, “Because it's a very important risk factor for suicide.”
Rubio’s legislation would not create a federal “Red Flag Law,” but would instead supply states with grants to exercise these protective orders.
A local gun rights advocate supports the idea, but said monitoring potentially dangerous people is easier said than done.
“You know there's the mentally unstable people,” Todd Karam said, “I think that's going to be our biggest hurdle because what are you going to use to determine that?”
But Cleveland Clinic Doctor Brian Barnett, a psychiatrist and gun owner himself, said the “Extreme Risk Protection Order and Violence Prevention Act” is crucial.
He regularly treats suicidal patients, but said under current law, once a patient is discharged, his hands are tied.
“Most of those laws leave out mental health practitioners and as people who regularly work with those who are suicidal, I think it's important that we have a say in this matter,” Barnett said, “Because we see things before many other people do and there's a chance for us to intervene.”
Some states already allow doctors to take these measures, but Ohio currently does not.
Barnett said adding mental healthcare professionals to Rubio’s proposal would benefit public safety by keeping guns out of the hands of people dealing with psychological trauma.
An Ohio Democratic representative said she supports Red Flag Laws and believes stricter supervision is long overdue.
“The process is moving too slow and lives are being lost in this process,” Juanita Brent said. “So even though most people who would fall under the red flag laws would not be people who would be a threat, they're not normally people of mass shootings... but they pose a threat to themselves, their family members and also to their community, so we want to make sure there's a process.”
The protective orders proposed by Rubio would mean temporary restrictions and confiscations of guns from people deemed dangerous.
During the “period of risk,” that person would also not be allowed to purchase firearms. However, when that period is over, the person in question would not be registered on a permanent national watch list.
