Rufus Honeycutt: Gun bill a bad idea

Regarding the March 31 news article “Several gun bills filed, with more on the way”: Senate Bill 708 would create a class of quasi-law enforcement officers trained in using guns (but not any other aspect of police work) and give them a license to ignore private property rights. This is a bad idea.

Real police officers responding to calls are in communication with their departments, other officers and other emergency response agencies. Each has trained with and is very familiar with their colleagues. They are trained to defuse situations and use firearms only as last resort.

The proposed nonprofessional “marshals” would have just a gun and would be tempted to seek out opportunities to use it. The last thing officers need is someone they don’t know showing up with a gun. A better solution is to hire more professional police officers.

This could be a good bill with revisions. Most of SB 708 lists the criteria for obtaining and keeping a gun permit. The criteria include background checks, mental health evaluations and mandatory training. These criteria should be applied to everyone seeking to carry a firearm.

The provisions allowing violation of personal, corporate and state government property should be deleted. The proposed “simunition” classes are unnecessary.

This story was originally published April 18, 2015 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Rufus Honeycutt: Gun bill a bad idea."