Obama taking action on gun background check system

April 19, 2013 @ 3:03 am


President Barack Obama, next to Vice President Joe Biden, gestures as he speaks during a news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House, in Washington, on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, about the defeat in the Senate of a bill to expand background checks on guns. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) | Zoom

WASHINGTON (AP) - Blocked by Congress from expanding gun sale background checks, President Barack Obama is turning to actions within his own power to keep people from buying a gun who are prohibited for mental health reasons.

Federal law bans certain mentally ill people from purchasing firearms, but not all states are providing data to stop the prohibited sales to the FBI's background check system. A federal review last year found 17 states contributed fewer than 10 mental health records to the database, meaning many deemed by a judge to be a danger still could have access to guns.

The Obama administration was starting a process Friday aimed at removing barriers in health privacy laws that prevent some states from reporting information to the background check system. The action comes two days after the Senate rejected a measure that would have required buyers of firearms online and at gun shows to pass a background check. That's already required for shoppers at licensed gun dealers.

Stung by the defeat, Obama vowed to keep up the fight for the background check expansion but also to do what he could through executive action.

"Even without Congress, my administration will keep doing everything it can to protect more of our communities," Obama said from the Rose Garden shortly after the Senate voted. "We're going to address the barriers that prevent states from participating in the existing background check system."

Obama also mentioned giving law enforcement more information about lost and stolen guns and establishing emergency plans for schools. Those measures were among the 23 executive actions the president signed in January when he announced his broader push for tighter gun laws in response to a mass shooting of first-graders and staff at Newtown, Conn.'s Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The Health and Human Services Department on Friday was beginning to ask for public comment on how the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, passed by Congress in 1996 and known as HIPAA, is preventing some states from reporting to the background check system and how to address the problem. Under HIPAA, health care providers such as hospitals may release limited information to police, but only in certain circumstances such as when a court is involved.

Since 1968, federal law has banned the sale of guns to those who have been deemed a danger to themselves or others, involuntarily committed or judged not guilty by reason of insanity or incompetent to stand trial. The background check system _ which is also used to prevent convicted felons from buying guns _ was established under the 1993 Brady Bill.

A few state agencies shared mental health records voluntarily for years, but the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007 spurred passage of legislation that required states to submit the records or eventually risk losing up to 5 percent of the federal funding they receive to fight crime.

Last year's review by the Government Accountability Office found that although the number of mental health records available to the background check system increased 800 percent since 2004, some states said they were not sharing mental health information because of concerns about restrictions under HIPAA privacy law. Obama is interested in a change that would specifically allow disclosure of mental health records for the system, and he wants to increase financial incentives for states to contribute the information.

In the Virginia Tech rampage, student Seung-Hui Cho shot 32 people to death and committed suicide. He was able to buy two guns even though he had been ruled a danger to himself during a court hearing in 2005 and was ordered to undergo outpatient mental health treatment.

Authorities have not described a possible motive or released details of any mental health condition that might explain why Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza killed 20 children and six adults before killing himself. The rifle he used was purchased by his mother, whom he also killed at home before heading to the school.

The background check system does not give retailers access to mental health records but simply tells them whether a buyer is approved, denied or needs additional investigation before a firearm may be purchased. The system doesn't tell the seller why a potential buyer was denied.

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Follow Nedra Pickler on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nedrapickler


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (122)


  • Add A Comment

  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    White House: Gun violence is complex problem
    December 17, 2012 3:00 pm
    Translation: We won't do a thing, since it will piss off the NRA and all their members, who are voters. We need EVERYONE, if we want to continue down the road to the U.S.S.A.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Ron_Spins wrote...
    Clue.......guns are not violent!
    January 16, 2013 2:41 pm
    It's the culture and especially mental illness.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    I believe they do not want an answer to this problem ever found.
    December 17, 2012 6:07 pm
    It may take away from the messianic appearance of Obama and the expectation of some in this nation that big government not God is the answer to this and all other problems.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • murr wrote...
    Americans are supporting of living within their means
    December 18, 2012 10:30 am
    I see our goverment leaders can't. That works well. No, im NOT laughing at you.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SickofSeattleite wrote...
    there are more guns in america than americans....
    December 19, 2012 5:43 am
    protect our right to bear arms! Gun control WILL NOT stop these tragedy's....
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    with Biden in charge
    December 19, 2012 9:01 am
    you just know there will be a brilliant solution.

    "I promise you, the president has a big stick. I promise you."

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    "This time, the words need to lead to action," said Obama, who set a January deadline for the recommendations. He vowed to push for their implementation without delay.
    December 19, 2012 9:03 am
    He won't have much luck. Mostly show and words and little actions. Although the Dear Leader never have to worry about being re immaculated, he and the Liberals still have to worry about elections. In particular midterms. Any Liberal or RINO who pushed for abolishing the second amendment will be kicked out of office in 14.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • cigarfan wrote...
    @Lord Ha ha!
    December 19, 2012 12:48 pm
    "Any liberal or RINO"........Didn't you say the same thing about DADT? Didn't you say the same thing about same sex marriage? Didn't you say the same thing about Obama care? Didn't you say the same thing about Palin/Romney/Santorum/Bachmann/Newt getting elected? Didn't you say the same thing about McKenna getting elected? At what point are you going to get the message?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • lemmelone wrote...
    Darn!
    December 19, 2012 9:42 am
    Look, the evil actions of one man have hurt all our hearts. I am just as vexed as, I'm sure, most of the rest of us are. That does not stop me, however, from being irritated on account of this whole knee jerking, wild circle running, screaming, hair pulling fracas has made it impossible to find the firearm I was intending to purchase this Christmas season. Out of stock everywhere. Now I have to wonder about my "option two" or sit on my hands and hope this whole thing calms down enough to allow me to buy my sweet new shooting iron. For all of you purchasing some nice hooch and an automobile in the same day...be happy it isn't your rights currently in the "unpopular" seat. You might have run up against a waiting list or some such shenanigan.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    cf, this regimes attempts at Gun control are only designed to make you Parrots look to your Dear Leader as even more Messianic?
    December 20, 2012 6:03 am
    So you people will look to Obama and not God for the answers to these problems! You voted for this. I did not. President Romney would have lead the nation in prayer asking God for help with this evil. I will not listen to a leader of a party who rejected God THREE TIMES in one night.

    As for the rest of your post, all I can say, and have said, is that you Parrots have to live with the consequences of your actions. In this case, giving your Dear Leader 4 more years of the last 4 years!

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Pressman wrote...
    Hey Ho-HO...
    January 16, 2013 10:33 am
    "President Romney would have lead the nation in prayer..." in other words, done nothing, except to ask your God to make it all better, which is odd, since he controls everything, must have wanted those children to be shot ( who can question the purposes of the almighty?), and if he didn't want them to be shot, it would appear that he is weaker than his opposite, and couldn't stop it from happening. So mumble your nonsense to the wind...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    "This year will go down in history. For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future!" - Adolph Hitler 1935
    January 8, 2013 6:36 am
    And all you Left wing Parrots here were hoping that their Dear Leader said this.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    Too Bad Ha Ha...
    January 9, 2013 5:37 pm
    That quote is BS as NOTHING in Germany happened in 1935 re gun control and in fact in Germany firearms laws were more lenient than they are now. The Germans after WW1 were completely disarmed. Things were relaxed and people could own guns (except Jews beginning in 1938). They were once again disarmed (by the Allies) in 1945.

    Go read Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Chrisfrommv wrote...
    you'll need a fact checker for that
    January 30, 2013 9:44 pm
    The Allies disbanded the armies Not the people, While germans didn't have many gun in the first place in 1935 Hitler Did pass sweeping gun control and a registry. Not just in germany but more importantly in the serounding countries like austria that had votes the Nazi regime into power for a promise to reconsile their economic woes of the time. Which he briefly did. He also created mental health institutions during that time and many special needs people were rounded up and brought to these institutions then many of their families would get a letter months later informing them that their previously healthy loved one passed away due to illness or an accident.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    Translation of ObamaSpeak;
    January 9, 2013 5:52 am
    We have not swept the American people with our political rhetoric. The support that was or was not there at the beginning is not there now.

    The regime is not has not swayed the American opinion on Gun control. As is obvious by the exploding gun sales and CCW permits.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }