News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 19, 2013
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Contact: HHS Press Office
202-690-6343
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Obama administration moves to remove barriers to firearm background check reporting
Today, as part of President Obama’s common sense plan to reduce gun
violence, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius initiated a rulemaking process to remove unnecessary
legal barriers under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule that may prevent states from reporting to the
National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which is the
database that houses information on individuals prohibited by law from
possessing firearms. This is one of the 23 executive actions the
President announced in the wake of the Newtown tragedy to protect our
children and our communities from gun violence.
The NICS was
created by the Brady Act and ensures that guns are not sold to those
prohibited by law from buying them, including felons, those convicted of
domestic violence, and individuals involuntarily committed to a mental
institution or found to be a danger or unable to manage their affairs
due to a mental health condition.
While this background check
system is the most efficient and effective way to keep guns out of the
hands of dangerous individuals, it is only as effective as the
information that is available to it. According to a 2012 Government
Accountability Office report, 17 states had submitted fewer than 10
records of individuals prohibited for mental health reasons.
Today,
the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) plans to issue an Advance Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to ask for the public’s input on how
HIPAA may prevent some states from reporting to the NICS and ways in
which these barriers can be addressed without discouraging individuals
from seeking mental health services.
“In order to protect our
children and communities, we must ensure that information on potentially
dangerous individuals who are prohibited from possessing firearms is
available to the background check system,” said Secretary Sebelius. “At
the same time, it is important to note that the vast majority of
Americans with mental health conditions are not violent and that those
with mental illness are in fact more likely to be victims than
perpetrators. We do not want to discourage individuals who need help
from seeking mental health services, and our actions will be carefully
tailored to ensure patient confidentiality as well as public health and
safety.”
“Through the public comment process, we will use the data
and information provided by states, health providers, patient advocates
and others to determine how best to remove unnecessary barriers to NICS
reporting while protecting patient privacy,” said OCR Director Leon
Rodriguez.
The database that houses non-criminal justice
information on individuals prohibited from possessing firearms for
reasons related to mental health – called the NICS Index – does not
contain medical or mental health records. If an individual is prohibited
from purchasing a firearm due to specific mental health reasons as set
by law, the following information is submitted to the NICS: (1) basic
identifying information about the individual such as name, social
security number, and date of birth, (2) the name of the state or federal
agency that submitted the information, and (3) a notation on which of
the ten prohibited categories is applicable to the individual, which
allows the individual to appeal and seek to correct incomplete or
inaccurate information if needed.
When federally licensed firearms
dealers request a NICS background check for a potential buyer, the only
information they get back is that the potential buyer is approved,
denied, or additional investigation is needed. The dealer does not
receive any information about why an individual is denied and does not
ever have access to any records of potential buyers, including health
records.
The ANPRM will be available for review at: http://www.federalregister.gov/. Comments can be submitted to http://www.regulations.gov/
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Last revised: April 19, 2013
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