A new package of gun control measures unveiled by President Barack Obama on Tuesday that aims to curb gun violence - which the president has typically referred to as an "American epidemic" - includes a rule that allows doctors to report the names of mentally ill patients to an FBI firearms background check system.
The measure, which was originally proposed in January 2013 by Obama in the wake of the Sandy Hook mass shooting, was finalized and published on Monday, according to HealthIT Security.
"Under this final rule, only covered entities with lawful authority to make the adjudications or commitment decisions that make individuals subject to the federal mental health prohibitor, or that serve as repositories of information for the [National Instant Criminal Background Check System] reporting purposes are permitted to disclose the information needed for these purposes," it states, according to a summary of the rule. "The disclosure is restricted to limited demographic and certain other information needed for NICS purposes. The rule specifically prohibits the disclosure of diagnostic or clinical information, from medical records or other sources, and any mental health information beyond the indication that the individual is subject to the Federal mental health prohibitor."
Previously, the 1993 Brady law prohibited gun ownership by those who have been involuntarily committed, found incompetent to stand trial or otherwise deemed by a court to be a danger to themselves or others. However, privacy rules prohibited health care providers from sharing information without the consent of the patient.
Paul Gionfriddo, chief executive of the mental health rights organization Mental Health America, told Politico that he believes Obama struck the right balance between sharing information and protecting privacy. "That could be a barn door opened quite wide if an administration really wanted to open it, and they didn't," Gionfriddo said. "The administration has taken great pain to try to clarify that there is very limited information that would be reported only within a very limited group."
In a speech from the East Wing on Tuesday, Obama said part of his package of measures includes providing more resources to the FBI to handle the anticipated severe increase in background checks, including the funds to hire more than 230 additional processors.
"Each time this comes up, we are fed the excuse that common-sense reforms like background checks might not have stopped the last massacre, or the one before that, or the one before that, so why bother trying," Obama said, CNN reported. "I reject that thinking."
The executive actions on gun control put forth by the White House are within his legal right, the president asserted after a Monday meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch, FBI Director James Comey and other law enforcement officials. "The good news is that these are not only recommendations that are well within my legal authority and the executive branch, but they’re also ones that the overwhelming majority of the American people, including gun owners, support and believe in," the president said following the Oval Office meeting, ABC News reported.
