Obama Administration Moves to Alter Gun-Buying Rules : The Two-Way : NPR
Federal agencies are proposing new rules for handling gun buyers’ background checks, in changes the Obama administration says will “keep guns out of potentially dangerous hands.” The changes include a clarification of rules barring firearm possession due to mental health problems.
That part of the plan involves the Department of Justice, which is proposing the term “committed to a mental institution,” which appears in its gun ownership regulations, be accepted to include “a person committed to involuntary inpatient or outpatient treatment.”
The Justice Department is also seeking other changes, largely dealing with the definition of mental competence. People found to be incompetent to stand trial, for instance, could be barred from owning a gun whether the determination comes from “a state, local, federal or military court,” the agency said.
The new proposals will be posted to the Federal Register at 4:15 p.m. today. The Obama administration calls them the latest in its efforts to bolster the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. They also come in the wake of several mass shootings in which mental health problems have been linked to the perpetrators.
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