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| US gun control bill will endanger the American public, says anti-gun group | US gun control bill will endanger the American public, says anti-gun group |
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| A US senate bill drafted in consultation with the main pro-gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, would endanger the American public by making it easier for people with serious mental illness to acquire firearms, according to an analysis by a coalition of city mayors and police chiefs. | A US senate bill drafted in consultation with the main pro-gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, would endanger the American public by making it easier for people with serious mental illness to acquire firearms, according to an analysis by a coalition of city mayors and police chiefs. |
| The draft legislation has been presented by its lead sponsor, the Republican senator for South Carolina Lindsey Graham, as a bi-partisan effort designed to improve public safety by improving record-keeping on mentally ill people to prevent them buying guns. It is one of the main policy proposals emanating from gun supporters, including the NRA, since the Newtown shooting in December in which 26 young children and educators were killed by a deranged shooter. | The draft legislation has been presented by its lead sponsor, the Republican senator for South Carolina Lindsey Graham, as a bi-partisan effort designed to improve public safety by improving record-keeping on mentally ill people to prevent them buying guns. It is one of the main policy proposals emanating from gun supporters, including the NRA, since the Newtown shooting in December in which 26 young children and educators were killed by a deranged shooter. |
| But an analysis by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, an alliance of more than 900 mayors from cities across America headed by New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, the legislation would have entirely the opposite impact. Were the bill to be enacted it would dramatically reduce the number of people with a history of serious mental illness whose records are kept on a federal database used to monitor gun sales. | But an analysis by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, an alliance of more than 900 mayors from cities across America headed by New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, the legislation would have entirely the opposite impact. Were the bill to be enacted it would dramatically reduce the number of people with a history of serious mental illness whose records are kept on a federal database used to monitor gun sales. |
| Most astonishingly, the bill would undermine a prohibition that has been in place for more than 40 years that blocks anyone who has been involuntarily committed to a mental hospital from buying or possessing guns. An individual who has been sent to hospital by court order as a result of mental illness would now be able to purchase and own a gun immediately after they have been released from treatment. | Most astonishingly, the bill would undermine a prohibition that has been in place for more than 40 years that blocks anyone who has been involuntarily committed to a mental hospital from buying or possessing guns. An individual who has been sent to hospital by court order as a result of mental illness would now be able to purchase and own a gun immediately after they have been released from treatment. |
| Under a clause contained in the NICS Reporting Improvement Act (S 480), only those people who have been involuntarily committed to mental hospital who present an "imminent" danger to themselves or others would be prohibited – greatly reducing the safeguards offered by the federal monitoring of gun sales. That would mean that even those who have been found not guilty by reason of insanity in federal courts, and sent indefinitely to secure mental institutions, would be allowed to buy a gun the instant they were released unless the authorities could prove that they were an imminent danger. | Under a clause contained in the NICS Reporting Improvement Act (S 480), only those people who have been involuntarily committed to mental hospital who present an "imminent" danger to themselves or others would be prohibited – greatly reducing the safeguards offered by the federal monitoring of gun sales. That would mean that even those who have been found not guilty by reason of insanity in federal courts, and sent indefinitely to secure mental institutions, would be allowed to buy a gun the instant they were released unless the authorities could prove that they were an imminent danger. |
| Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, said the proposals would throw the current federal system of record-keeping into disarray by invalidating millions of mental health records currently stored in the national gun background check database. "Though it purports to clarify and increase mental health record submissions to the gun background check system, S 480 instead would allow many more individuals who have been involuntarily committed or otherwise found to be seriously mentally ill to buy and possess guns," he said in a statement. | Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, said the proposals would throw the current federal system of record-keeping into disarray by invalidating millions of mental health records currently stored in the national gun background check database. "Though it purports to clarify and increase mental health record submissions to the gun background check system, S 480 instead would allow many more individuals who have been involuntarily committed or otherwise found to be seriously mentally ill to buy and possess guns," he said in a statement. |
| S 480 is presented as non-partisan, with its main backers including Graham, fellow Republican Jeff Flake and two Democrats Mark Begich and Mark Pryor. But its true heavily politicised nature is underlined by the fact that it has been blessed by the NRA, a group that has relentlessly campaigned against tighter gun controls in the wake of Newtown including the comprehensive package of measures being put before the senate by the Democratic leadership. | S 480 is presented as non-partisan, with its main backers including Graham, fellow Republican Jeff Flake and two Democrats Mark Begich and Mark Pryor. But its true heavily politicised nature is underlined by the fact that it has been blessed by the NRA, a group that has relentlessly campaigned against tighter gun controls in the wake of Newtown including the comprehensive package of measures being put before the senate by the Democratic leadership. |
| Advocates of greater controls to stem the daily carnage of gun violence, which claims more than 30,000 lives a year, fear that the Graham-Begich bill is being used to detract attention away from the comprehensive senate reform bill, S 649, that would crucially extend federal background checks to all gun sales including those over the internet and through gun shows. Some 63 police chiefs from main cities across the US have written to Senator Graham protesting about his bill, saying that the comprehensive reforms would be far preferable as a means of combating violence. | Advocates of greater controls to stem the daily carnage of gun violence, which claims more than 30,000 lives a year, fear that the Graham-Begich bill is being used to detract attention away from the comprehensive senate reform bill, S 649, that would crucially extend federal background checks to all gun sales including those over the internet and through gun shows. Some 63 police chiefs from main cities across the US have written to Senator Graham protesting about his bill, saying that the comprehensive reforms would be far preferable as a means of combating violence. |
| Led by Commissioner Charles Ramsey of Philadelphia, the police chiefs slam S 480 for representing "a step in the wrong direction for our nation's efforts to prevent gun violence". | Led by Commissioner Charles Ramsey of Philadelphia, the police chiefs slam S 480 for representing "a step in the wrong direction for our nation's efforts to prevent gun violence". |
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