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Debbie Dingell on Gun Control

 

 


Deal with mental illness and gun control laws

Q: You wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post about how we can't have a knee-jerk reaction to gun control laws but at the same time we need to respond to school shootings?

A: And we haven't done anything. You know, we've got mental illness and law enforcement officers talk about veterans who are coming back with post traumatic stress. I wanted to write an article after they had the shootings in California about how to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill. When I went to write it, you really do realize how complicated the issue is. Because I do also want to take the stigma off it. That means if someone is postpartum depressed and has to go on an anti-depressant for a few months, is that somebody that you want to somehow never let own a gun ever again? It's not straightforward. And it will keep people from seeking the treatment that they need. So, it's complicated. But, just because it's complicated doesn't mean that we don't look at how we can solve the problem.

Source: Eclectablog on 2014 Michigan House campaign , Oct 16, 2014

Require background check for every firearm sale and transfer.

Dingell voted YEA the Bipartisan Background Checks Act

H.R.8: To require a background check for every firearm sale. This Act may be cited as the "Background Check Expansion Act".