Tuesday, October 22, 2002

NAMI Alert: Congress Links Guns to Mental Illness
NAMI press release - "Spurred by an outrageous, stigmatizing CBS' 60 Minutes broadcast on October 13 that speculatively linked the still unknown sniper in the Greater Washington area to mental illness (along with other inaccuracies) the House of Representatives this week passed, without any hearing or formal vote, a bill introduced by Senator Charles Schumer and Representative Carolyn McCarthy of New York. This bill enforces an obscure 1968 federal law through 'incentive grants' to states and local governments to report to the the FBI any person 'adjudicated as mentally defective.' Their names would then be included in the National Instant Criminal Background Check (NCIC) system for selling guns, including those for hunting or sport target shooting." NAMI considers the bill "over-broad, stigmatizing, and a threat to privacy and confidentiality," and is organizing opposition to the Senate version.