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State report questions adequacy of processes to keep guns out of hands of the mentally ill

Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) - 8/6/2015

Aug. 06--NASHVILLE -- A performance audit of the state court system released Wednesday raises the possibility that people with mental health issues "may be able to obtain a firearm" from gun dealers and a handgun-carry permit from the state due to the possibility of inadequate reporting by court clerks to the FBI database used for background checks.

The performance audit conducted by the state comptroller's office says the Administrative Office of the Courts, an arm of the Tennessee Supreme Court, and court clerks across the state "should implement improvements to fully comply with state statutes designed to keep firearms out of the hands of individuals with mental health issues."

The report's release came on the day of Tennessee's latest incident making national news: a lone man armed with an air pistol, a hatchet and pepper spray entered a suburban Nashville cinema, pepper-sprayed three patrons and struck one with a hatchet before he was killed by police when he aimed the realistic-looking gun at them. Police said Wednesday night the 29-year-old man had a history of mental illness.

The comptroller's report does not definitely say that individuals with mental illness have obtained guns nor carry permits as a result of the reporting shortcomings it identified. It used interviews with officials and personnel and paperwork reviews to conclude that "Tennessee court system management had not fully complied with state laws regarding mental health and firearms reporting by enduring that the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) adequately tracked mental health report submissions, court clerks timely reported submissions and various courts used compliant automated reporting systems."

Tennessee law requires that court clerks submit reports to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) database within three business days, whenever a court of law commits an individual to a mental institution or adjudicates him or her as a "mental defective." That definition in state law includes a determination that the person is a danger to themselves or to others.

The audit says gun dealers and the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security must check the NICS database before making eligibility determinations involving firearms.

"Therefore, without a complete and accurate database, individuals with mental health issues may still be able to obtain a firearm from a gun dealer" or a carry permit from the state.

The AOC concurred with the findings and said the problem is "partly due to a funding issue." It said that in the short term, it will devote the resources necessary to more accurately track the submission of mental health reports. For the long term, it will seek federal grants to improve the process or ask for more state funding.

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