''Sheriffs in jam over gun law''(??) Only in gun banners' imaginations...

February 4, 2004
Cincinnati Enquirer

Add one more question to the list of unknowns about Ohio's new concealed-carry gun law: Can Ohio's sheriffs get mental-health records for people hoping to legally carry a handgun?

Ohio law says people who have been committed to a mental-health facility should not be permitted to carry a concealed weapon.

But a federal law called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which went into effect in April, makes it illegal for hospitals, clinics and other health-care providers to release patient medical records.

That information could be key for Ohio sheriffs responsible for investigating people who apply for concealed weapon permits. The new law goes into effect April 8, and state officials and sheriffs are scrambling now to work out the permitting process.

Bob Cornwell, executive director for the Buckeye State Sheriffs' Association, said there will be no way to confirm mental-health commitments - except for those ordered by a court. Court rulings are not subject to HIPAA protections, according to Kim Norris, spokeswoman for the Ohio attorney general's office.

If a family or guardian has committed someone to a mental health facility in the past, sheriffs likely would never know it.

About 17 percent of the 1,200 people in Ohio state mental health hospitals on Dec. 31 were committed without a court order, said Sam Hibbs, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Mental Health. Because private mental hospitals - which have an additional 3,000 beds in Ohio - are not required to share patient information with the state, it's unclear how many people are in those facilities without a court order.

The Ohio attorney general's office is still trying to understand how HIPAA will affect the processing of applications for concealed-weapon permits, Norris said. "We see there are certainly some challenges ahead."

Edited for space - entire article can be viewed by clicking here.

Commentary:
The answers to any concerns here are simple, but don't expect them to appear in articles on the subject.

As signed into law, Ohio House Bill 12 (like all previous versions) bans those
who were 'adjudicated' as mentally incompetent from getting a concealed handgun license (CHL). In other words, those determined in a court of law to be unfit mentally cannot obtain a CHL.

This supposed HIPAA issue is just another example of anti-gun journalists and lobbyists grasping at straws. HB12 was NEVER intended to allow checks of private health records via anything other than court records. HIPAA has absolutely NOT changed the implementation of Ohio House Bill 12 as passed by the General Assembly, and signed by Governor Taft.

Several OFCC Board Members are active duty law enforcement officers, and all agree that this is a non-issue as far as implementation of the law. If a person is so unstable that their family had them committed to a mental facility at some point, and if the family currently believes it would be unsafe for them to obtain a CHL, then it is incumbent upon the family should go to probate court and have the person 'adjudicated' as mentally incompetent. "Problem" solved.

One Board Member, also a police sergeant, raises a primary reason for which private / voluntary stays in a mental facility were never included in HB12.

"I know of several police officers, who after suffering a traumatic event, were hospitalized for a period of time for mental health reasons. All came back to work and were fine, productive officers."

There are 36 other states with concealed-carry laws similar to Ohio's. Kentucky and Indiana both deny permits to people who have been adjudicated mentally ill by a court. Neither state checks for mental health commitments that originate from family or others, and those states are NOT having problems.

For proof of how the gun ban lobby was trying to raise this false issue before the law was even passed, click here to read a January 5, 2004 letter to the Columbus Dispatch editor from Toby Hoover.