Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Mark Begich (D-AK), Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Mark Pryor (D-AR) on Wednesday introduced legislation intended to provide clarity on which mentally ill individuals are not eligible to possess firearms.
According to a press release, the NICS Reporting Improvement Actof 2013, would apply to individuals whose cases are determined by an adjuctive body to be: an imminent danger to themselves or others; found guilty but mentally ill in a criminal case; was not guilty in a criminal case by reason of insanity or mental disease or defect; was incompetent to stand trial in a criminal case; was not guilty only by reason of lack of mental responsibility under the Uniform Code of Military Justice; required involuntary inpatient treatment by a psychiatric hospital; required involuntary outpatient treatment by a psychiatric hospital based on a finding that the person is an imminent danger to himself or to others; and required involuntary commitment to a psychiatric hospital for any reason including drug use.
At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Graham was asked why the bill did not address the so-called gun show loophole. The senior South Carolina senator said his concern about such a proposal stems from the difficulty in determining what qualifies as a private sale.
“The question about regulation about regulating private sales at gun shows: what’s a private sale?” Graham said. “The one thing I’m not ever going to support is if I buy a shotgun from Mark [Pryor] or if I give one to a family member, I’m not going to take a federal system that I — and put that into the federal system. That’s just not practical.”
