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Abstract
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Individual ownership of firearms is common in the United States. According to the FBI, which oversees the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), the annual number of background checks for firearm purchases surpassed 20 million for the first time in 2013 and has not fallen below that level since. In 2020, the annual tally passed 30 million, with 32 million checks as of the end of October.1 As of that date, there had been over 365 million background checks since the inception of the NICS in 1998. When that figure is added to the number of firearms that were in private hands prior to 1998, it is clear that the number of legally owned guns exceeds the nation's total population by a significant amount.
A complex and evolving array of state and federal laws governs who is and is not eligible to possess a firearm. Many such laws specify categories of mental illness diagnosis or treatment (such as involuntary commitment) as disqualifiers. Given the prevalence of firearm ownership, these laws affect many patients treated by psychiatrists. Yet the subject of mental health firearm prohibitions is not a routine part of psychiatric training in most residency and fellowship programs. In this issue of The Journal, Nagle et al.2 demonstrate the dearth of knowledge about this topic among psychiatrists. The authors surveyed a group of South Carolina psychiatrists regarding their knowledge of and attitudes toward the firearm rights of people with a history of mental illness or mental health treatment.2
Their study appears to be the first to specifically examine psychiatrists' understanding of mental health firearm laws. Much of the previous work in this area has surveyed physicians from a variety of specialties on the narrower topic of concealed-carry permits.3,-,5 One study examined the attitudes of psychiatrists (specifically residency directors) regarding mental health firearm prohibitions but did not assess their knowledge of these laws.6 The findings reported by Nagle et al.2 highlight the pressing need for increased training of psychiatrists on this subject. It is especially important that forensic psychiatrists, as experts in risk assessment, have familiarity with mental health firearms laws, as well as with procedures for the restoration of rights after prohibition. This study should serve as a call to action for the strengthening of forensic psychiatry training about legal regulation of firearm ownership for individuals with a mental health history...
Language: en |