One Million Mental Health Records Now in Brady Background Check System

Millions more still need to be added

Jan 7, 2011

Washington, D.C. – Following the Virginia Tech tragedy in April 2007, legislation was passed in December 2007 and signed by President George W. Bush on January 8, 2008 to improve the Brady background check system.  Over the past three years, the number of state records of prohibited gun purchasers in the system has increased dramatically.  Some states have taken action via state legislation and federal grants, but other states have failed to act. 

The number of disqualifying mental illness records submitted from the states and territories to the National Instant Criminal Background Check Systems Index increased significantly, from 402,047 records to 929,254 records, from January 1, 2008 to August 31, 2010.  When federal records are added, the total number of disqualifying mental illness records approaches 1.1 million.

However, research generated by the NICS Improvement Act requirements indicates that millions of relevant records are still missing from the system.  The National Center for State Courts and SEARCH, the National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics, estimate that more than 2 million disqualifying mental illness records should be in the NICS Index based on responses from only 42 of 56 U.S. states and territories.

“The good news is that background checks work.  They help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.  Since 1994, 1.9 million gun purchases by dangerous people have been stopped,” said Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.  “However, incomplete information from the states puts us all at risk.  We need to, and can, do much more to prevent another Virginia Tech.”

A Virginia court had found the Virginia Tech shooter to be dangerously mentally ill, but he passed two Brady background checks because Virginia had not submitted the appropriate record to NICS.  After the Virginia Tech tragedy, Congress passed the NICS Improvement Amendments Act giving states funding incentives to improve record submissions so that a person prohibited from purchasing firearms will fail a Brady background check.

Since the Virginia Tech shootings, 12 states (Arkansas, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin) have enacted legislation to improve their reporting.   Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine signed executive orders to improve their states’ performance on record submission.  Six states submitted a large number of records to NICS in either 2007 or 2008 (Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio and Florida). 

In 2009, three states (Nevada, New York and Oregon) received NICS Improvement Amendments Act grants totaling just over $2.5 million.  In September 2010, the U.S. Justice Department allocated another set of grants of $17 million to eight states. Seven of these eight states (Idaho, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin) had submitted fewer than 40 records combined as of November 2008.

The Brady Campaign has compiled the best available data on the status of state and territory disqualifying mental illness records in a table that can be accessed at:  http://www.bradycampaign.org/xshare/Facts/2011-01-05_Overview_State_Records_of_Mental_Prohibitors.pdf.

The table contains two key statistics by state/territory: 1) state records added to the NICS Index in 2008, 2009, and through 8/31/2010 and 2) state records in originating state agencies that should be in the NICS Index.  The data, however, is merely a subset (1/2008-8/2010) of the total number of records of disqualifying mental illness submitted to the NICS Index.  To find out how many records your state has provided to NICS in total, contact the FBI press office at (202) 324-3000.

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The Brady Campaign is the nation's largest citizens' lobby to prevent gun violence. We represent the voice of the overwhelming majority of Americans who are tired of living with the constant tragedy of gun violence and are in favor of strong laws and policies that will save lives. We are the light that exposes politicians who are putting the American people at risk, empowering the American people to hold them accountable for decisions and actions that undermine public safety.

We are driven by the focused vision of a nation where all Americans are safe at home, at work, at school, and in our communities.

Dan Gross is the President of the Brady Campaign and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. A photo and more information about Dan Gross is available here.

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