Gun control bills introduced in Illinois, New York, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin in the past 14 months would require background checks on potential buyers to determine, among other factors, whether they were ever involuntarily committed or found to be mentally incompetent.

Paul Appelbaum, M.D., APA vice president and Board liaison to the Council on Psychiatry and Law, commented, "Background checks for criminal charges make sense because that correlates with future criminal activity. However, checking for involuntary commitment for treatment doesn’t make sense because past mental illness doesn’t predict future violence. Moreover, the assumption that the mentally ill are more violent than people in the general population is erroneous."

The bills require licensed gun dealers to collect background information on prospective buyers and call it in to their local law enforcement division or the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

The national electronic database is a joint effort between federal, state, and local government agencies that contribute records on persons disqualified to purchase guns under the 1993 Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. The Brady law required the implementation of NICS in 1998 and lists involuntary commitment and incompetence as one of several disqualifying categories.

The Illinois, Utah, and Wisconsin bills specify that gun dealers must contact state law enforcement personnel, who will access the NICS and their state databases to conduct background checks. A state’s database would contain criminal records shared with NICS and records relevant to other disqualifying categories such as involuntary commitment.

Katherine Becker, deputy director for state affairs in APA’s Division of Government Relations, commented, "Although effective gun control is important, legislatures should be addressing the states’ failure to provide necessary treatment and essential support services for the severely mentally ill. This would help states fulfill their responsibility of protecting all citizens."

The Mental Health America (NMHA), headquartered in Alexandria, Va., opposes the proposed legislation because it allows law enforcement personnel access to confidential medical records and compromises the mentally ill’s right to privacy and to purchase handguns, according to an NMHA policy statement on constitutional rights and mental illness.

The NMHA favors gun control, but "believes that firearms should be difficult for all people to obtain, not just the mentally ill," according to the policy statement.

An FBI description of the NICS refers to regulations developed by the U.S. Attorney General to protect the privacy and security of NICS records and emphasizes that access will be restricted to individuals and agencies authorized by the FBI.

"The prospect that federal and state officials and gun dealers can look at an individual’s history of psychiatric treatment, however, will make people more reluctant to seek treatment. Once these national databases are established, their uses are endless," said Appelbaum.

He and the NMHA complain that making mental illness a reason to disqualify people from buying guns is stigmatizing and discriminatory. Other categories for denial include involuntary commitment for substance abuse, fugitives from justice, domestic violence, and dishonorable discharge from the military, according to an FBI statement.