North Carolina AG Cooper Calls For Ban On Guns For Severely Mentally Ill

Change follows Virginia Tech tragedy, campus safety review

June 9, 2008 -- Raleigh -- Patients deemed mentally ill by the courts have no business carrying guns in North Carolina, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said Monday in advance of a legislative hearing.

A bill that would keep guns out of the hands of those who have been involuntarily committed is scheduled to be heard Thursday, June 12, before the Senate Judiciary I committee.

Senate Bill 2081, sponsored by Sen. Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, would require court clerks to enter mental health commitments into a national database, which would provide the information for gun permit background checks.

“Stopping those with severe mental illnesses from having guns makes sense, and sharing the information can keep tragedies like Virginia Tech from happening in North Carolina,” Cooper said. “We owe it to our parents and students to keep campuses safe."

The change would bring state law in line with a federal provision that prohibits those who were committed from buying or carrying guns.

For the first time, it would also give people a right to appeal the gun ban to the courts. If a judge finds that a patient has recovered, is successfully off treatment and a psychiatrist or qualified psychologist agrees, the right to bear an arm could be restored.

After last year’s killings at Virginia Tech, a review panel found that the shooter was able to buy two guns from registered gun dealers, even though he had been involuntarily committed. The federal law that prohibits someone who has been “committed to a mental institution” should have immediately disqualified the shooter from purchasing a gun. But a judge’s ruling did not appear on the shooter’s background check.

Cooper asked a North Carolina task force he convened to examine whether mental health commitments should be shared with State and federal authorities for gun permit checks. That recommendation is now before the legislature.

It would work by having court clerks enter information from a judge’s involuntary commitment order into the National Instant Background Check System (NICS) which is used for background checks on gun purchases.

Last year, 32 students and faculty were killed at Virginia Tech. Cooper brought together leaders from law enforcement, the University of North Carolina System, private colleges and universities, and Community Colleges to form the task force.

The North Carolina task force issued a report to Cooper January 10, 2008, and a complete copy of the report is available at www.ncdoj.gov.

Source: North Carolina Attorney General

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