WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – World famous bounty hunter and reality television star Duane “Dog” Chapman argued that prospective gun owners should be required to possess a mental health card to purchase a firearm.
Chapman also called for increased penalties for those who buy guns without serial numbers during an interview with Eric Bolling on Newsmax TV on Thursday.
Chapman’s comments come in the wake of the mass shooting last weekend in Buffalo when18-year-old Payton Gendron allegedly killed ten people at a supermarket.
During the interview, Chapman told Bolling that the Biden Administration’s attempt to pass laws limiting where someone could carry a gun did not work before suggesting the mental health card requirement.
Here’s my idea after 40 some years of experience. You need a mental health card from a doctor that says you qualify to be able to own a gun,” Chapman said during an appearance on Eric Bolling: The Balance.
“You have to have a mental evaluation, believe this or not, to be a psychologist. You have to have a mental evaluation to be a police officer, a fireman. There are so many jobs in America where you have to have a mental evaluation.
Chapman also called for increased penalties for those who buy “hot guns” without serial numbers to face five years of punishment.
A group of lawmakers led by Sen. Cory Booker reintroduced the Federal Firearms Licensing Act this week which would, among other things, would require prospective gun owners to submit the “make, model, and serial number” as well as the identity of the gun seller to the Attorney General’s office in hopes of obtaining a license for a firearm.
OUR TAKE
While we respect “Dog” for his correct assertion that current gun control laws won’t work, we are not applying for employment when purchasing firearms.
We wish to stand a fighting chance against the mentally unhealthy people who always seem to gain access to weapons. At the same time, the responsible, law-abiding citizens must navigate copious amounts of bureaucratic red tape to gain access to them.
Chapman also made the common incorrect assertion that radical lawmakers like Sen. Booker act as neutral agents in enacting laws. After all, a requirement for a mental health card for possible gun purchase would have to be passed by a state or federal government, would it not?
Within the mental health category, where would Sen. Booker, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), or Steve Dettelbach place the line between acceptable mental health issues and unacceptable mental health issues about gun ownership?
As anti-gun as all of them are, it’s not stretch to see the day when their version of ‘mental health’ assessment would include questions such as, “Do you vote Republican?” and “Do you think we need more gun control?”
In this case, these particular thoughts from the “Dog” won’t hunt.
