Congress Passes New Gun Legislation
December 20, 2007
Continuing with their new habit of passing legislation, Congress has approved a new bill that would make it easier to flag people who are ineligible to purchase a gun because of mental health problems. The measure was spurred on by the Virginia Tech killings in April.
Seung-Hui Cho, a Virginia Tech student with documented health problems (a judge had ruled him to be a danger to himself) was able to purchase two guns because information about the state of his mental health was not sent to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
The new legislation outline what kind of mental health information should be sent to the system, provides financial incentives for states to keep current records, and withholds federal funding for states that fail to comply with standards. The measure was supported by both the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the National Rifle Association.
The bill had been held up by a lone Republican, Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, “because he worried that millions of dollars in new spending would not be paid for by cuts in other programs.” A compromise was finally reached this week, which includes that “the government would pay for the cost of appeals by gun owners and prospective buyers who argue successfully in court that they were wrongly deemed unqualified for mental health reasons.”
President Bush has not indicated whether he will sign the legislation or not.
(Source: AP)
