03/12/2018 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY

             HB  75-GUN VIOLENCE PROTECTIVE ORDERS                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
3:11:05 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR CLAMAN announced  that the only order of  business would be                                                               
HOUSE BILL  NO. 75, "An  Act relating to gun  violence protective                                                               
orders; relating  to the crime  of violating a  protective order;                                                               
relating to  a central registry  for protective  orders; relating                                                               
to  the  powers of  district  judges  and magistrates;  requiring                                                               
physicians,   psychologists,  psychological   associates,  social                                                               
workers,   marital   and    family   therapists,   and   licensed                                                               
professional  counselors  to  report   annually  threats  of  gun                                                               
violence;  and amending  Rules 4  and 65,  Alaska Rules  of Civil                                                               
Procedure, and Rule 9, Alaska Rules of Administration."                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR CLAMAN opened public testimony on HB 75.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
3:11:49 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
IVANA  BARRICK (audio  difficulties)  survivor and  she is  still                                                               
coming to  terms with  that, which requires  "a lot  of therapy."                                                               
The last  five and  one-half months  have been  a hard  road, she                                                               
described, but  she is grateful  for her friends and  family that                                                               
have supported  her.   Within the last  five and  one-half months                                                               
all have  heard "#Vegas  Strong," and  within those  months there                                                               
have more people in "our club."   She said that she stands behind                                                               
this bill  because Alaska has  a gun violence problem  that needs                                                               
to be addressed because Alaskans do  not need any more people "to                                                               
join  this  club."    Since  joining the  club,  there  has  been                                                               
"Sutherland  Strong"  and  "Parkland  Strong."   She  urges  each                                                               
member  to try  to  push  this bill  through  because "enough  is                                                               
enough."                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
3:13:07 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
HILARY  REHFIELD-GREEN  advised  that  she  is  born  and  raised                                                               
Alaskan who, through  the years, has personally  been affected by                                                               
tragedy by way of unstoppable  persons with firearms.  Friends of                                                               
hers  have  taken  their  own lives,  extended  family  has  been                                                               
engaged  in domestic  disputes involving  firearms and  gun fire,                                                               
and most  recently, she related,  she survived the  mass shooting                                                               
in Las  Vegas.  Her  life has been  permanently altered due  to a                                                               
troubled  individual  welding  fire   arms  as  weapons  of  mass                                                               
destruction, and she related that  it is her responsibility to do                                                               
everything in her power to  influence change and establish common                                                               
sense gun laws for public safety.   She remarked that no one else                                                               
should  have  to experience  what  she,  and thousands  of  other                                                               
people,  are suffering  within recovery  from  the shootings  and                                                               
domestic gun violence.   The extreme risk  protection order could                                                               
provide  safety for  vulnerable citizens,  both the  troubled and                                                               
unstable  individuals, and  potential  victims  of gun  violence.                                                               
She opined  that HB  75 is  a realistic  measure to  take against                                                               
potential  gun  violence  and  she is  hopeful  the  members  can                                                               
support this legislation.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
3:15:23 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MARJORIE  MENZI advised  that  she is  a  retired social  studies                                                               
educator,  the  mother  of  5 children,  and  grandmother  of  12                                                               
grandchildren.  She related that  she has suffered a "very strong                                                               
emotional  response" to  the years  of school  shootings and  the                                                               
death of  our children  by gun  fire.  For  the past  five years,                                                               
since  the  Sandy Hook  Elementary  School  shooting in  December                                                               
2012, she has  been a supporter of the Brady  Campaign to Prevent                                                               
Gun Violence  to reduce gun violence  in the United States.   Her                                                               
concern  with  society's  gun  violence,  she  explained,  became                                                               
personal  three  years  ago  when   a  friend,  a  former  Juneau                                                               
resident's  teen-age  grandson  was  shot to  death  in  Atlanta,                                                               
Georgia while attending a high school  football game.  No one was                                                               
ever  charged with  his  murder,  she expressed.    She said  she                                                               
supports HB  75 and applauds  the sponsors for taking  this small                                                               
step to  address gun violence  in Alaska,  and she hopes  this is                                                               
just a  first step.   This legislation  raises some  questions in                                                               
her mind which  perhaps will be addressed by  regulations or have                                                               
been answered to  the satisfaction of the  committee members, she                                                               
said.   With regard to the  next necessary steps from  the Alaska                                                               
Legislature and the United States  Congress, she concurs with the                                                               
recommendation  of the  emergency room  psychiatrist, Doctor  Amy                                                               
Barnhort, who  previously testified  before this committee.   Dr.                                                               
Barnhort  was quoted  in the  New York  Times as  saying, "It  is                                                             
important to put some distance  between young men and their guns.                                                               
One way to do that is to raise the age of legal carry to 21-                                                                    
years,"  which the  State of  Florida recently  accomplished, she                                                               
advised.   The sale  of guns  needs to be  stopped at  gun shows,                                                               
which takes  place without background checks,  and includes bump-                                                               
fire stocks and  the sale of automatic weapons.   There must also                                                               
be a comprehensive and easily  accessible nationwide database for                                                               
background checks.   She said  that she offers  these suggestions                                                               
as  possible  next  steps  that  might be  taken  by  the  Alaska                                                               
Legislature.  The  NRA created an environment of  fear to justify                                                               
the sale  of assault  weapons to ordinary  citizens and  has bank                                                               
rolled United  States Congressional campaigns to  ensure that the                                                               
NRA's positions regarding gun availability  prevail in the United                                                               
States.  This  state needs substantive action  by legislators and                                                               
by the  United States Congress  to ensure the safety  of Alaskans                                                               
and all Americans.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
3:18:23 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
PATTY OWEN advised  that she is a life-long Alaskan  and lives in                                                               
Juneau,  she  is  a  health  and safety  advocate,  and  she  has                                                               
children and  grandchildren living in  Juneau.  She  related that                                                               
she has 30  plus years of professional experience  in disease and                                                               
injury prevention,  she is a  mother who remembers  the Columbine                                                               
High School  shooting in April 1999,  and at that time  moms were                                                               
calling for  common sense gun  laws.   During the past  20 years,                                                               
gun violence has  gotten worse and she related that  HB 75 really                                                               
has the promise  to work for Alaskans'  safety, particularly with                                                               
the state's  firearm death  rate being  higher than  the national                                                               
average,  and  the state's  suicides  being  the highest  in  the                                                               
nation.  She urged the members to support HB 75.                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
3:19:46 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MIKE COONS  said, "I  am the  NRA, I  am one  of 5  million proud                                                               
members of the  NRA, and we stand for the  Second Amendment."  He                                                               
referred to the title of HB  75 regarding "An Act relating to gun                                                               
violence  protective orders,"  and commented  that under  federal                                                               
law,   if  there   is  a   protective  order,   that  information                                                               
automatically goes  to the  National Instant  Criminal Background                                                               
System (NICS).   Although, he commented, 38 states  chose not [be                                                               
involved in that system].  He  pointed to the title, "relating to                                                               
a central  registry for protective  orders," and asked that  if a                                                               
police officer can call in over  the radio to determine whether a                                                               
person had a  protective order, why is a  registry necessary when                                                               
the information is  already available.  He pointed  to the title,                                                               
"relating  to  the powers  of  district  judges and  magistrates;                                                               
requiring  physicians,  psychologists, psychological  associates,                                                               
social  workers,  marital  and  family  therapists  and  licensed                                                               
professional  counselors  to  report   annually  threats  of  gun                                                               
violence;" and  said, "Really?   Isn't that when a  person really                                                               
has a mental problem that they  are supposed to be seen, if there                                                               
is  a real  problem they  have a  72-hour hold,  and if  they are                                                               
found to be a danger to themselves  or others it goes to a court,                                                               
a  judge who  adjudicates under  the  law whether  the person  is                                                               
mentally a danger to others  and they lose their Second Amendment                                                               
rights, right then and there,  and their firearms are confiscated                                                               
and taken  away."  He advised  that that is the  federal law, "it                                                               
is  not   being  enforced   all  the   way  through   the  Alaska                                                               
administration, although  this administration has."   He referred                                                               
to the testimony of the woman  who supports the Brady Campaign to                                                               
Prevent Gun Violence  and offered that there is no  such thing as                                                               
an assault weapon unless it is  a fully automatic M-16 rifle, and                                                               
the weapons used  in the military are assault weapons.   An AR-15                                                               
rifle  is  a  semi-automatic,  similar to  a  10-22  rifle  semi-                                                               
automatic, and "it just looks bad."   He referred to the gun show                                                               
loophole  testimony  and responded  that  there  is no  gun  show                                                               
loophole, and there  is no loophole on the  internet because "all                                                               
federal firearms  dealers have to be  dealing with it."   He said                                                               
he is trying to get the  facts out, rather than the hyperbole and                                                               
the absolute  adamant lies of the  far-left anti-gun, anti-Second                                                               
Amendment  people  that   are  going  to  be   speaking  in  this                                                               
committee.  He said he opposes HB  75, he does not want to see it                                                               
passed out of this committee,  and he wants every good Republican                                                               
to vote against it on the floor of the House of Representatives.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
3:23:02 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
ANN  RAPPOPORT  thanked   Representatives  Tarr,  Spohnholz,  and                                                               
Drummond  for  introducing  HB  75,   which  is  a  common  sense                                                               
preventative  approach  to one  aspect  of  the gun  violence  in                                                               
America that  has needlessly torn  apart and traumatized  so many                                                               
American families.   She related  that she is a  39-year resident                                                               
of Alaska who  took several gun safety courses  during her career                                                               
as a wildlife biologist, and her  husband is a gun owner and avid                                                               
hunter.   She urged  the legislature  to quickly  pass HB  75, as                                                               
this  bill does  not  interfere with  anyone's  rights under  the                                                               
Second  Amendment.   Rather,  she explained,  it  will provide  a                                                               
safety net to  identify troubled Alaskans who own  or have access                                                               
to  firearms  by  notifying  the   proper  authorities  and  then                                                               
removing those  firearms to keep  those individuals,  their loved                                                               
ones,  and  innocent other  safe  until  the troubled  individual                                                               
seeks  help.     Once  the  situation  and   the  individual  are                                                               
considered  stable,  they will  regain  their  firearms.   Had  a                                                               
similar  bill  been in  place  a  few  years  ago it  could  have                                                               
prevented the  tragic situation  of the Alaskan  who flew  to the                                                               
State of Florida  and killed [17] innocent people  at the Marjory                                                               
Stoneman  Douglas  High  School.   This  legislation  could  have                                                               
prevented  a number  of suicides,  which  is a  leading cause  of                                                               
death  among young  Alaskans, it  could  have prevented  domestic                                                               
violence, and  it would have  prevented the  significant injuries                                                               
and enduring  trauma testified  to earlier,  (audio difficulties)                                                               
history by  so others (audio  difficulties) events,  she related.                                                               
Statistics  show that  Alaska  has the  highest  rate of  firearm                                                               
deaths  in  the nation,  and  most  of  those are  suicides,  and                                                               
suicide by  firearms is much  deadlier than suicide  attempted by                                                               
other means.   She advised that legislation similar to  HB 75 has                                                               
effectively  been implemented  in several  other states.   (Audio                                                               
difficulties) to  the youths of  America while pushing  adults to                                                               
do something about the issue of  gun violence in America.  (Audio                                                               
difficulties), Ariana O'Harra, a  Junior at Eastside High School,                                                               
who wrote  an excellent commentary in  last Wednesday's Anchorage                                                             
Daily News  where she lamented  that Alaska's students  now spend                                                             
more  time  preparing for  a  school  shooting than  earthquakes.                                                               
This  is  not a  situation  anyone  should consider  staying  for                                                               
Alaska's children.  She suggested  that the terms, "foster parent                                                               
and  grandparent"  be  added  to the  list  of  immediate  family                                                               
members  as  it appears  those  individuals  may be  the  primary                                                               
caregivers for troubled youths.   Alternatively, she said, Alaska                                                               
has seen several situations where  those are the people posing an                                                               
immediate  danger to  vulnerable youths.   Please  help save  out                                                               
children,  she asked,  save our  spouses and  partners, and  save                                                               
countless  others  who  are  either  going  through  a  difficult                                                               
period, or those who are  innocent bystanders, with a yes-vote on                                                               
HB 75, the first of many necessary steps in this area.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR CLAMAN announced that public testimony would be left open.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
[HB 75 was held over.]