(The Center Square) — New Hampshire would join other states in sharing mental health information about potential gun buyers under a bipartisan proposal moving through the legislative process, but the move faces opposition from Second Amendment groups.
The legislation, which was approved by the House Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety, would require New Hampshire to begin sharing mental health data about potential gun buyers with the National Instant Criminal Background System, which is overseen by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The bipartisan bill was filed in response to the shooting death of Bradley Haas, a security guard at the New Hampshire Hospital, who was killed by a man with a history of mental health issues who had been allowed to purchase a firearm despite being deemed by a judge to be a threat to himself and others.
Rep. Terry Roy, R-Deerfield, the bill’s primary sponsor in the House, said the legislation has been “carefully crafted” to respect the constitutional rights of gun owners while ensuring that people struggling with mental health issues can’t access firearms.
New Hampshire is one of a handful of states that doesn’t report information about mental health commitments to the FBI’s background check system. Gun dealers use NICS to check whether buyers are legally allowed to possess firearms. Federal law prohibits anyone who’s been “committed to a mental institution” from possessing a firearm.
But the New Hampshire Firearms Coalition said the “well-intentioned” bill would authorize “gun confiscation without crime, uses confidential mental health data in troubling ways, and chips away at fundamental due process protections.
The coalition said the bill “goes far beyond background checks” and would set a “dangerous precedent that threatens Second Amendment freedoms in New Hampshire.”
“Gun rights advocates recognize HB 159 for what it is: part of a larger government overreach into our private lives and constitutional rights,” the coalition said in a statement. “Yes, mental illness is a serious issue – but handing over lists of New Hampshire citizens who sought psychiatric care to the federal government is not the solution.”
A similar bill passed the Republican-controlled House with bipartisan support last year before it was rejected by the GOP-led Senate. Roy and other backers of the plan refiled the bill for consideration in the new legislative session after stripping the bill of provisions that were criticized by other Republicans as “gun confiscation” requirements.
Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who was sworn into office in January, has said she would support sending mental health records to the national database if there are adequate due-process protections.
