New Hampshire Court Blocks AG’s Plan For Reporting Involuntary Mental Health Hospitalizations For Federal Firearms Background Check

On July 22, 2016, the New Hampshire Judicial Branch blocked the state attorney general's (AG) office order that the courts report the names of people admitted involuntarily to New Hampshire Hospital to the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).  The Judicial Branch said the AG's order was based on an unclear interpretation of provision added to a recently approved state law.

Federal law disqualifies anyone who has been “adjudicated as mental defective” from legally buying guns; the term applies to anyone a court rules mentally incompetent. The NCIS tracks the names of people who are disqualified . . .