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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | April 15, 2013 01:23 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Matt Smith |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Mental Health Records and the National Instant Criminal Background Check System |
| In the near future I intend to introduce legislation requiring the PA State Police to transmit all existing mental health data to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) within 90 days. The NICS system is a nationwide system used to instantaneously check the background of individuals attempting to acquire firearms. Importantly, this legislation will also require the PA State Police to send updated mental health records to the national database on a regular basis going forward. Specifically, the State Police will be required to transmit updated mental health information to the NICS within 48 hours of receipt. Individuals who have been adjudicated for mental health issues or committed to mental institutions should not be permitted to possess firearms until their mental incapacity is resolved. This legislation would require the individual to apply through the court of common pleas to be granted relief from the firearm prohibition and have their name removed from the NICS system. A 2012 Government Accountability Office report detailed the dramatic increase in the number of records available in the national database between 2004 and 2011. In 2004, there were 200,000 records in the database and in 2011 that number had grown to 1.2 million. The report also detailed the corresponding dramatic 600% increase in the number of people who were denied the opportunity to purchase a firearm based upon an instant check of their mental health history. As you may know, the State Police recently began transmitting mental health records to the NICS. While I commend the State Police for the recent efforts to submit mental health records to the NICS, I believe legislative action is still necessary to codify the requirement and to provide for a time which the records must be submitted to the NICS. Please join me in co-sponsoring this important piece of legislation designed to institute further safeguards to prohibit those individuals who have been adjudicated for mental health issues or committed to mental health institutions from obtaining firearms. If you have questions about the legislation please contact Tim Golding of my staff at 717-787-5839 or tgolding@pasenate.com. |
Introduced as SB1052