Obama Administration Proposes More Gun Regulations

It’s baby steps, but that’s all we’ll get as long as Congress is standing in the way of the necessary bigger ones.  Still, these moves to strengthen the National Instant Criminal Background Checks (NICS) are something.

Gun dealers are required to use the system to screen for felons, drug abusers, the severely mentally ill or others who are prohibited from owning firearms. But the database is woefully incomplete.

The Justice Department is moving forward with draft regulations intended to clarify what information must be submitted by states to the NICS system.  For instance, the proposed rule would make clear that the term “committed to a mental institution” includes involuntary inpatient as well as outpatient commitments.

“This step will provide clear guidance on who is prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law for reasons related to mental health,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a written statement.Separately, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is moving forward with regulations to remove perceived legal barriers that have kept some states from sharing information with the NICS database.

By: Stuart Shapiro

Stuart is a professor and the Director of the Public Policy
program at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers
University. He teaches economics and cost-benefit analysis and studies
regulation in the United States at both the federal and state levels.
Prior to coming to Rutgers, Stuart worked for five years at the Office
of Management and Budget in Washington under Presidents Clinton and
George W. Bush.