Preventing Mentally Ill Persons from Acquiring Firearms

• In Event: Firearms in Different Contexts

Abstract

The measurement of firearm transfer laws has been over-simplified, leading to a misunderstanding of the role of these laws in preventing firearm crime. Most research has examined a single law in isolation from other laws for its cross-sectional association with a crime outcome. Firearm laws are multivariate and need to be measured in this way. This presentation will focus on the characteristics of mental health firearm transfer laws in an effort to illustrate the need for a multivariate measurement model.

Mass firearm killings by mentally ill people have gained notoriety in recent years. The NICS Improvement Amendments Act was intended to help prevent such events by facilitating reporting of administrative records to federal databases used during a firearm background check. This presentation will provide an in-depth examination of firearm transfer restrictions for persons with mental health dispositions. Federal requirements and variability across states for prohibitors, reporting requirements, and relief from prohibitions will be examined. Statistics presented will include firearm transfer and permit denials caused by mental health dispositions and counts of prohibiting mental health records in the NICS Index database.

The presentation will close with a brief discussion on the benefits of multivariate measurement of firearm laws.

Authors

• Ronald Frandsen, Regional Justice Information Service

• Jennifer Karberg, Regional Justice Information Service

• David Mueller, Regional Justice Information Service