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Mukasey: FBI Gun Ban List Doubles
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 29, 2007; 12:50 PM
Since the Virginia Tech shootings last spring, nearly 220,000 names have been added to an FBI list of people prohibited from buying guns because of mental health problems, the Justice Department announced today.
The disclosure, from the prepared text for a speech this afternoon by Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey, underscores the size of the background check loophole that allowed Seung Hui Cho to purchase the handguns he used to kill 32 people and himself at Virginia Tech in April.
A state court had found Cho dangerously mentally ill, but the information was not provided to the FBI database checked by the gun dealers who sold him the weapons.
The Justice Department said today that the FBI's Mental Defective File has ballooned from 175,000 names in June to nearly 400,000. The names are included as a subset of the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS.
The vast majority of the new individuals were identified by California, which provided more than 200,000 names to the FBI in October, the Justice Department said. Ohio provided more than 7,000 new names, while the number of states reporting mental health data to the FBI grew from 22 to 28.
"Instant background checks are essential to keeping guns out of the wrong hands, while still protecting the privacy of our citizens," Mukasey says in prepared remarks released by the Justice Department before his appearance at a conference of state attorneys general in Utah. "But as we learned in the tragedy at Virginia Tech, the checks must be accurate and complete to be effective. We're making progress, and I hope that even more states will submit this information."
Federal law prohibits gun sales to people judged to be "mentally defective," but enforcement of the requirement has been haphazard. The Virginia Tech shooting has prompted a push by federal lawmakers and many states to improve monitoring of those covered by the ban. The House has overwhelmingly approved legislation that would encourage states to submit timely background check data to the FBI, but the measure has stalled in the Senate.
In Virginia, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) tightened a loophole in April by ordering state agencies to block gun sales to those involuntarily committed for inpatient or outpatient mental health treatment. Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) also issued a new gun purchase regulation that requires buyers to sign a waiver that releases mental health records to state police.
Im just curious about who defines "mentally defective". Is it legal for a state to demand a waiver of health records in order to purchase a firearm?
Mukasey: FBI Gun Ban List Doubles
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 29, 2007; 12:50 PM
Since the Virginia Tech shootings last spring, nearly 220,000 names have been added to an FBI list of people prohibited from buying guns because of mental health problems, the Justice Department announced today.
The disclosure, from the prepared text for a speech this afternoon by Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey, underscores the size of the background check loophole that allowed Seung Hui Cho to purchase the handguns he used to kill 32 people and himself at Virginia Tech in April.
A state court had found Cho dangerously mentally ill, but the information was not provided to the FBI database checked by the gun dealers who sold him the weapons.
The Justice Department said today that the FBI's Mental Defective File has ballooned from 175,000 names in June to nearly 400,000. The names are included as a subset of the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS.
The vast majority of the new individuals were identified by California, which provided more than 200,000 names to the FBI in October, the Justice Department said. Ohio provided more than 7,000 new names, while the number of states reporting mental health data to the FBI grew from 22 to 28.
"Instant background checks are essential to keeping guns out of the wrong hands, while still protecting the privacy of our citizens," Mukasey says in prepared remarks released by the Justice Department before his appearance at a conference of state attorneys general in Utah. "But as we learned in the tragedy at Virginia Tech, the checks must be accurate and complete to be effective. We're making progress, and I hope that even more states will submit this information."
Federal law prohibits gun sales to people judged to be "mentally defective," but enforcement of the requirement has been haphazard. The Virginia Tech shooting has prompted a push by federal lawmakers and many states to improve monitoring of those covered by the ban. The House has overwhelmingly approved legislation that would encourage states to submit timely background check data to the FBI, but the measure has stalled in the Senate.
In Virginia, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) tightened a loophole in April by ordering state agencies to block gun sales to those involuntarily committed for inpatient or outpatient mental health treatment. Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) also issued a new gun purchase regulation that requires buyers to sign a waiver that releases mental health records to state police.
Im just curious about who defines "mentally defective". Is it legal for a state to demand a waiver of health records in order to purchase a firearm?