In March, Democrats, with the help of 25 Republicans, passed a bill that would add New Hampshire to a long list of states that provide certain mental health records for gun background checks. Late Wednesday, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a resolution recommending that the full Senate reject the bill, over the objections of the committee’s two Democratic members.
It was unclear Thursday when the Senate would consider the House bill. The bill was introduced in response to the fatal shooting of a state hospital guard in November by a former patient whose gun was confiscated due to mental health concerns in 2016.
Under this bill, records of involuntary admission to a psychiatric facility would be reported to the federal background database. It does not apply to individuals who are taken into emergency custody and restrained.
Before voting to reject the bill, Sen. Bill Gannon, R-Sandown, criticized the bill for confiscating legally owned firearms without due process.
But the bill would require a court hearing before the guns are removed, during which the individual would be represented by an attorney. It will also include legal steps to restore the right to own guns. Additionally, under federal law, it is illegal for individuals admitted to psychiatric facilities to purchase or possess firearms.
“This is … seizing firearms from individuals based on psychological and bureaucratic evaluations,” Gannon said. “It circumvents the due process that should accompany a violation of Second Amendment rights.”
Gannon continued, “The most troubling aspect of this bill is that it does not require a criminal act to disenfranchise a citizen, and it does not require a determination of unfitness by authorities to seize a legally owned firearm.” That’s enough,” he added.
This law would apply in limited circumstances.
This does not include people who voluntarily seek hospitalization or who are urgently detained before a court hearing.
This system applies to people who have been charged with a crime and are found incompetent to stand trial or who have been found not guilty by reason of insanity, and to people who have not been charged with a crime but are involuntarily admitted on grounds of dangerousness. Applicable.
Efforts in the House to limit the scope to people facing criminal charges failed.
Organizers Rep. Terry Roy (R-Deerfield) and Rep. David Muse (D-Portsmouth) knew they would face a battle with Second Amendment rights groups and Republicans. The two sides had never previously agreed on a gun bill, and had hoped their unlikely partnership on the latest bill would overcome opposition.
Republican Sens. Sharon Carson of Londonderry and Darryl Abbas of Salem joined Gannon in opposing the bill. Democratic Sen. Shannon Chandley of Amherst and Sen. Cindy Rosenwald of Nashua voted yes.
Chandley said the bill is a small but important step toward preventing gun violence.
This story was originally New Hampshire paper.
