Concerns over Beau Biden Gun Violence Prevention Act

A new bill introduced in the Delaware House of Representatives Tuesday is already receiving some backlash.

House Bill 302 or as it's better known, the Beau Biden Gun Violence Protection Act, aims to keep guns out of the hands of those with a mental illness.

The six-page bill would expand the list of those prohibited from owning a firearm, but according to some there's already a bill in the house that aims to do just that.

House Minority Leader Rep. Danny Short of Sussex County says that this piece of legislation isn't as well crafted as the 22-page bill that's already on the floor. 

According to Short, House Bill 285 actually answers a lot of legal ramifications that aren't answered in the Beau Biden bill. 

"It doesn't have a fairness to it and the other one right up front, there's no hearing in regard to the actual confiscation of of the firearms. There's some other issues in regards to how an individual, if in fact prevails in the Superior Court and is not considered mentally ill, how do they actually get their possessions back?" says Rep. Short. 

Short says HB 302 does have good merit but in his opinion those issues he just pointed out are the ones that have been addressed in the other bill, which is already on the floor. 

Rep. David Bentz, who is the lead sponsor of the Beau Biden bill, says he introduced this bill because the one already on the floor hits facets that are unnecessary to the goal of keeping weapons out of the hands of those with mental illness.