WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — With the tragedy of 19 children and two teachers shot to death inside of a Texas school, the issue of mental health and guns in America is a topic that just won't go away.
Contact 5 spoke to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and state Sen. Lori Berman, D-Delray Beach, earlier this year on this very subject.
Berman crafted legislation as a state representative four months before the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The legislation was signed by then-Gov. Rick Scott and gives law enforcement the authority to go to court and have a judge order guns removed from the possession and homes of Floridians who could be a threat to themselves or the community.
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"The governor put together a package after Parkland, and he included that bill in the package," Berman said.
But Berman feels the law doesn't go far enough.
She wants to see it expanded to allow family members to petition a court to remove guns from a relative.
"I think there are a lot of family members who don't want to have to go to the police to say, 'Please remove the guns from my family member,' but they would go court,'" she said.
WPTV also talked to Bradshaw earlier this year who said PBSO handles around 3,500 calls a year that involve mental health.
He wants to expand his mental health unit — which includes licensed clinical therapists — who work to mitigate threats in the community.
"The system before RPOs (risk protection orders) came into existence if we seized someone's firearm from them, and they got out of jail, by law, we had to return it to them the next day," the sheriff said.
He is a proponent of risk protection orders as a tool to keep the public safe.
"I believe people should protect themselves, but I also believe that we should take weapons out of the people's hands that don't have the ability or the mental acuity to possess them," Bradshaw said. "That is why this is important."
Berman told Contact 5 Tuesday evening that she is considering filing legislation to expand the use of risk protection orders to include family members.
