Mark Kelly Applauds the New Mexico State House for Passing Bipartisan Legislation to Strengthen the Background Check System for Gun Sales
February 11, 2016 – Navy combat veteran and retired NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly, the Co-Founder of the gun violence prevention organization Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS) , today applauded the New Mexico State House for its bipartisan vote passing House Bill 336, which closes loopholes in New Mexico law by requiring the state’s courts to report relevant mental health records to the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
Americans for Responsible Solutions endorsed the legislation and worked with the New Mexico Legislature to advance the bill.
New Mexico currently has no law requiring the state to report mental health information to NICS, the federal background check system. In 2013, it had the 9th highest number of gun deaths per capita among the states.
“Today, Republicans and Democrats in the New Mexico State House came together to vote for common sense and for safer communities. This bipartisan bill will help ensure the records of dangerous people are in our background check system and prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands – a step that protects our communities and our Second Amendment rights,” said Captain Kelly, a Navy combat veteran and former NASA astronaut. “We are proud of our organization’s work to help advance this life-saving bill. We also thank Rep. Nate Gentry for his leadership in helping move this commonsense, responsible bill forward. We look forward to seeing the Senate do the responsible thing, pass this legislation, and send it to Governor Martinez’s desk.”
OVERVIEW OF THE NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM & REPORTING OF MENTAL HEALTH RECORDS
The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) was established in 1993 by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. Since taking effect, over 196 million background checks have been conducted and NICS has blocked more than 2.4 million gun purchases. States provide the majority of records information to NICS, which contains criminal history, mental health history and other relevant records. While states have made significant gains in submitting mental health records to NICS, tripling these submissions from 2011 to 2014, millions of records remain incomplete or simply do not make their way into NICS.