Dismayed by a series of mass shootings, the Obama administration has been committed to addressing the ease with which Americans are able to obtain a license to purchase a firearm.
This week, the administration took a step in that direction by attempting to plug a hole in the security system that exists around firearm ownership.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued new rules that will make it easier for authorities from different states and different political entities to share information about individuals whose mental illness history by law prohibits them from owning a firearm.
The rules seek to strike a balance between individual privacy and the right to bear a firearm.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act states that people who have been involuntarily committed to a mental institution or found “not guilty” in court by reason of insanity are not allowed to purchase a gun.
But advocates for individual privacy have lobbied to restrict access to the records of such people, which has led to illegal gun purchases.
The new rules limit the amount of information that can be shared about such individuals to their name and the body that made the disqualifying ruling.
But, the rules emphasize, legal authorities do have the authority to share that information as part of a federal background check.
The rules were published Tuesday.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
