Mental Health Screening for Gun Buyers? It's Nearly Non-Existent
This morning, I posted a new
blog
at the Huffington Post that examines one of the hard truths about the
gruesome mass shooting in Aurora: Under federal law, mental health
screening for gun purchasers is cursory at best, negligent and reckless
at worst.
Most
Americans probably assume that the background check for gun buyers who
go through a federally licensed dealer (FFL) is robust, to include
significant screening for mental health history. The reality is far
different. Unless a gun buyer has been involuntarily committed or
formally adjudicated by a court as a "mental defective," he is free to
stockpile as many firearms as he wishes. Furthermore, when a gun dealer
is processing a transaction, he does not see any details about
the mental health history of a customer: just some type on a computer
screen telling him to APPROVE or DENY a sale.
What can we do to improve this deeply flawed system and prevent the next Aurora? Please check out my blog, "
Aurora's Hard Truth: Mental Health Screening for Gun Buyers Is Nearly Non-Existent," to find out.
Best regards,
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Josh Horwitz
Executive Director
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