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Ohio underreporting on gun sale background checks

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The Associated Press Updated 5:26 PM Saturday, November 26, 2011

DAYTON, Ohio — Some mentally ill Ohioans and drug abusers are slipping through the cracks and not finding their names on a national background-check system that could prevent them from buying firearms.

A first-of-its-kind study by Mayors Against Illegal Guns shows that Ohio is among a number of states that is underreporting the mentally ill and drug abusers on the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, the Dayton Daily News reported (http://bit.ly/vfcYo3 ).

The mayors, including those from Cincinnati, Cleveland, Akron, Dayton and Columbus, advocate for tougher federal, state and local restrictions on illegal gun sales and ownership.

Ohio Attorney General's Office spokesman Dan Tierney told the newspaper that the state updates arrests and convictions daily, but state law lacks a provision for reporting all know drug abusers to the federal database.

Only drug abuses convictions make their way into the federal database. Anything that falls short — such as failing a drug test, someone telling a state agency he or she has a drug problem or court diversion into drug rehab — isn't reported.

The mayors group said Ohio doesn't have the infrastructure "to submit evidence of substance abuse outside of arrest or conviction records."

Similarly, Ohio's mentally ill only show up in the system if a court orders them to receive mental health treatment. However, Ohio is doing better than most other states: it identified 26,876 mental health cases since it passed a law in 2004, while 23 states and the District of Columbia have submitted fewer than 100 mental health records. Seventeen states submitted fewer than 10, and four states have submitted no mental health records.

Federal regulations and policy require that the things not being reported — failed drug tests, single drug-related arrests and the admission of drug use within the past year — temporarily disqualify someone from possessing a gun.

The federal background check system processed 100 million checks between 1999 and 2009 and blocked around 1.6 million permit applications and gun sales to people forbidden under the law from owning a firearm.

However, a background check doesn't stop all people who shouldn't have guns from obtaining them.

"Most of the guns used in crimes are obtained illegally or through casual sales such as garage sales or classified ads," said Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly.

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Information from: Dayton Daily News, http://www.daytondailynews.com

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November 26, 2011 10:22 PM EST

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