Juneau high school students and dozens of other Alaskans offered two hours of impassioned testimony Wednesday afternoon on the first gun-control proposal considered by the Alaska Legislature since a mass shooting killed 17 people and injured 14 more at a Florida high school on Valentine\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n
House Bill 75<\/a>, sponsored by Rep. Geran Tarr, D-Anchorage, does not directly address mass shootings but has nevertheless become the prime vehicle for Alaskans to show support for gun control after the Florida massacre.<\/p>\n \u201cI know that this bill won\u2019t end all gun violence, but I do know that people can make a change,\u201d said Thunder Mountain High School student Talya Johnson to the committee.<\/p>\n \u201cAs an American, I should not feel scared to come to school,\u201d said Stella Tallmon, a sophomore at Juneau-Douglas High School. \u201cWe need stricter gun laws.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf this is a step in the right direction, then I support it,\u201d said Anna Frazier, a junior at TMHS.<\/p>\n Introduced last year, HB 75<\/a> allows courts to issue orders temporarily confiscating the firearms of those deemed a danger to themselves or others. The order must be requested by an immediate family member or a police officer. The order can last up to six months.<\/p>\n It\u2019s an idea that has already been signed into law by several other states, including California, Oregon, Washington, Connecticut and Indiana. President Donald Trump appeared to offer comments in support of similar ideas on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to do something about the mentally ill not being able to buy a gun. No. 1, you can take the guns away immediately from people who you can judge mentally ill,\u201d Trump said in a Wednesday conference with U.S. senators. \u201cNow, a lot of people are saying, \u2018Oh I shouldn\u2019t be saying that.\u2019 Well, I don\u2019t want mentally ill people to be having guns.\u201d<\/p>\n Many of Wednesday\u2019s testifiers supported HB 75 with similar language, saying they want to keep firearms away from people who may be mentally ill or thinking about suicide.<\/p>\n \u201cAnything that we can do to help people avoid doing things in a state of crisis, in a state of emotion, would be really helpful for the state of Alaska,\u201d said Jayne Andreen of Juneau.<\/p>\n Some lawmakers pushed back against that concept.<\/p>\n Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, R-Anchorage, suggested that if clinically depressed people fear having their firearms seized, even temporarily, they might not seek a diagnosis that could add weight to a courtroom argument.<\/p>\n \u201cThat may very well keep people from going to psychiatrists to discuss this sort of thing if they\u2019re going to end up with an order that they\u2019re going to have to sell or give up their guns,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Rep. Lora Reinbold, R-Eagle River, pressed those who testified by asking whether they believe the issue of guns should be put into the context of larger questions about mental illness. If the state considers taking someone\u2019s firearms, she asked, shouldn\u2019t they also consider taking someone\u2019s vehicle or pills out of their medicine cabinet, given that those might also be used to commit suicide.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me, those are sidelines. The guns are what the issue is,\u201d said testifier Luann McVey.<\/p>\n According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Alaska has the highest rate of firearm deaths in the nation<\/a>. Most of Alaska\u2019s firearms deaths are suicides, and suicide by firearm is far deadlier<\/a> than suicide using other means.<\/p>\n When TMHS senior Joshua Quinto testified in support of the bill, Reinbold pressed him by asking whether Alaska\u2019s schools would be safer with increased security and metal detectors rather than a bill like HB 75.<\/p>\n \u201cSo basically, have you done any research into the effectiveness of metal detectors?\u201d Reinbold asked.<\/p>\n