Title: Fatal Gaps: How Missing Records in the Federal Background Check System Put Guns in the Hands of Killers

Publication Date: November 2011

What does it say?

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is missing critical mental health and drug abuse records.  After the January 2011 shooting in Tucson drew national attention to records problems in the NICS system, researchers with the Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) conducted a survey to determine why records are missing.

MAIG obtained Federal Bureau of Investigation data on the number of records state and federal agencies have shared with the NICS, analyzed related state and federal policies and interviewed more than 60 government officials responsible for NICS record collection and submission in 49 states and the District of Columbia (North Dakota officials declined to participate in the survey).

Key findings from the states:

• Many state mental health records are still missing
• State substance abuse records are also underreported
• While still inadequate, mental health record reporting by the states has improved
• States with the highest rates of mental health record submission have typically enacted policies that require or permit reporting of records
• States with access to federal funding tend to submit more records
• Leadership makes a difference.

Key findings on the federal side:

• Federal agencies have shared very few mental health records
• Most federal agencies have not submitted any substance abuse records
• A Clinton-era policy directive may discourage federal reporting.

The report makes 7 recommendations:

• Enforce the law on federal agency reporting
• Increase incentives and penalties for state compliance
• Retain the names of prohibited purchasers who fail background checks
• Issue clear guidance on what mental health and drug abuse records should be submitted to NICS
• Help states that already have record repositories to transfer their records to NICS
• Help states develop qualified “relief from disability” programs
• Fully fund NICS programs.

The report include two key resources:

1) charts summarizing state performance on total mental illness record submission (number and rate per capita) and improvement in the 14 months prior to October 2011 (number and per capita);

2) state summaries of records submitted per capita (with rank), state law requiring/permitting records sharing, gun rights restoration law, and grants to improve record sharing under the NICS Improvement Amendments Act.

How can I use it?

Use this report to help your elected officials at the state and federal level understand what changes need to be made to keep guns out of the hands of legally prohibited buyers.

Citation

Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Fatal Gaps: How Missing Records in the Federal Background Check System Put Guns in the Hands of Killers, November 2011