Gun Control Supporters Target Legal Loophole
Advocates Say N.H. Doesn't Report Mental Health Records
POSTED: 8:30 a.m. EST March 11, 2003
UPDATED: 8:33 a.m. EST March 11, 2003
CONCORD, N.H. -- Gun-control supporters again are trying to close a legal loophole they claim would allow mentally ill people to buy guns in New Hampshire.
Federal law requires background checks designed to bar sales of guns to convicted felons and people subject to domestic violence restraining orders.
The law also applies to people committed to mental institutions by the courts and people found mentally incompetent to stand trial. But background checks won't catch them because New Hampshire is one of 33 states that doesn't report mental health records to the national instant-check system.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is considering a bill that would change that. Supporters say commonsense, and federal law, states that mentally ill people shouldn't have firearms. But opponents say it's overly broad and could result in people being wrongly placed on the list.
A similar bill was tabled last year.
Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press.
