New Hampshire Limits Gun Background Check Info

New Hampshire lawmakers shot down a bill that would allow the state to expand information available to gun background checks. New Hampshire will remain one of only four states to withhold such records from the federal background check system.

New Hampshire Lawmakers Limit Gun Background Check Info

On May 30, the New Hampshire House of Representatives narrowly voted to table a law that would allow the state to submit mental health records to the FBI’s gun background check system.

The bill, House Bill 1711, divided New Hampshire Republicans, who usually stand together on gun-related issues. The New Hampshire state senate voted 13-10 to table the bill, a margin of about 10%.

HB 1711 came from an unlikely source, too. Representative Terry Roy, a Republican and gun owner, introduced the bill. Roy is a gun owner who has never backed any gun control laws before in his life.

Roy explained his mindset in a written statement. “I continue to be a 2nd Amendment advocate. But that does not mean that I cannot take extremely limited, constitutional, life-saving matters into consideration. The two are not mutually exclusive.”

Context

Whenever someone buys a gun in the US, they need to pass a background check. If they can’t pass their background check, they can’t buy a gun.

These checks generally run through the FBI’sFBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which aggregates data from multiple state and federal law enforcement records.

Many states also submit mental health data to the NICS system. This information could include data like whether the person was placed on an involuntary mental health hold or if they’ve ever been found criminally insane in court.

Much of the medical information NICS can access would normally be protected by privacy laws like HIPAA. However, HIPAA has specific exceptions for NICS.

New Hampshire is one of only four states – the others being Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming – that does not currently report mental health information to NICS. And with the failure of HB 1711, it looks like things are going to stay that way.

The Bottom Line

Regardless of what you think about these kinds of laws, there’s something fairly ironic about New Hampshire’s HB 1711. The law was introduced in response to a hospital security guard being shot and killed by a patient suffering from mental health problems.

However, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office hasn’t commented on how the patient acquired the gun he used in the murder. In other words, this law would do nothing to stop the situation that it was written to prevent.