Position Statement on Homicide Prevention and Gun Control
This statement was written by the Council on National Affairs1. It
was approved by the Assembly in November 1993 and by the Board of Trustees in
December 1993.
In view of the increasing violence in our society and the fact that homicide
deaths are now a significant contributor to national death rates, and
In view of the particular relationships of firearms to homicide and personal
injury with the resultant threat to life and security, adding to fears and
stresses in a crowded urban society, and
In view of the need to reinforce individual and group sanctions against the
use of violence as a social instrument, behavioral mode, or adaptational
pattern, as psychiatrists have done with drug abuse, suicidal actions,
and antisocial behavior,
The American Psychiatric Association recommends that
strong controls be placed on the availability of all types of firearms to
private citizens.
1
The council members are Fred Gottlieb (chairperson), M.D., Leah J.
Dickstein, M.D., Silvia W. Olarte, M.D., Terry Stein, M.D., Nada Stotland, M.D.,
and Billy Jones, M.D.
Another APA press release - date unknown:
State Gun-Control Bills Said to Unfairly Single Out Mentally
Ill
Gun control bills introduced in Illinois, New York, Utah,
Vermont, and Wisconsin in the past 14 months would require background checks on
potential buyers to determine, among other factors, whether they were ever
involuntarily committed or found to be mentally incompetent.
Paul Appelbaum, M.D., APA vice president and Board liaison to the Council on
Psychiatry and Law, commented, "Background checks for criminal charges make
sense because that correlates with future criminal activity. However, checking
for involuntary commitment for treatment doesn't make sense because past mental
illness doesn't predict future violence. Moreover, the assumption that the
mentally ill are more violent than people in the general population is
erroneous."
The bills require licensed gun dealers to collect background information on
prospective buyers and call it in to their local law enforcement division or the
FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
The national electronic database is a joint effort between federal, state,
and local government agencies that contribute records on persons disqualified to
purchase guns under the 1993 Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. The Brady
law required the implementation of NICS in 1998 and lists involuntary commitment
and incompetence as one of several disqualifying categories.
The Illinois, Utah, and Wisconsin bills specify that gun dealers must contact
state law enforcement personnel, who will access the NICS and their state
databases to conduct background checks. A state's database would contain
criminal records shared with NICS and records relevant to other disqualifying
categories such as involuntary commitment.
Katherine Becker, deputy director for state affairs in APA's Division of
Government Relations, commented, "Although effective gun control is
important, legislatures should be addressing the states' failure to provide
necessary treatment and essential support services for the severely mentally
ill. This would help states fulfill their responsibility of protecting all
citizens."
The National Mental Health Association (NMHA), headquartered in Alexandria,
Va., opposes the proposed legislation because it allows law enforcement
personnel access to confidential medical records and compromises the mentally
ill's right to privacy and to purchase handguns, according to an NMHA policy
statement on constitutional rights and mental illness.
The NMHA favors gun control, but "believes that
firearms should be difficult for all people to obtain, not just the mentally ill,"
according to the policy statement.
An FBI description of the NICS refers to regulations developed by the U.S.
Attorney General to protect the privacy and security of NICS records and
emphasizes that access will be restricted to individuals and agencies authorized
by the FBI.
"The prospect that federal and state officials and gun dealers can look
at an individual's history of psychiatric treatment, however, will make people
more reluctant to seek treatment. Once these national databases are established,
their uses are endless," said Appelbaum.
He and the NMHA complain that making mental illness a
reason to disqualify people from buying guns is stigmatizing and discriminatory.
Other categories for denial include involuntary commitment for substance abuse,
fugitives from justice, domestic violence, and dishonorable discharge from the
military, according to an FBI statement.
