Gabby Giffords & Mark Kelly Applaud Governor Susana Martinez for Signing Bill That Strengthens The Gun Background Check System
February 29, 2016- Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and retired NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly, the Co-Founder of the gun violence prevention organization Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS) , today applauded Governor Susana Martinez for signing ARS-endorsed bipartisan legislation that strengthens the state’s reporting of mental health records to the federal background check system.
The legislation, HB 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), passed through the New Mexico House and Senate on overwhelmingly bipartisan votes. Americans for Responsible Solutions endorsed the legislation and has been working with leaders in the New Mexico Legislature to advance the bill.
Before Governor Martinez signed the bill, New Mexico had 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.
“Yesterday, New Mexico enacted a commonsense law that will help keep guns out of the hands of the dangerously mentally ill, while respecting the Second Amendment. This is a real victory for the kind of responsibility and bipartisanship that our country so desperately needs. We are grateful to leaders from both parties who sent this proposal to Governor Martinez’s desk – and we are grateful to Governor Martinez for doing the right thing and signing this bipartisan, life-saving bill into law,” said Congresswoman Giffords and Captain Kelly. “We also want to say thank you to all of the Americans for Responsible Solutions supporters, advocates and public safety officials, who urged their elected officials to help strengthen our background check system and help make New Mexico a safer place.”
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.