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04.10.09 Mental Health Records To Be Sent To Obama Administration |
On
April 8th, the Oregon House Judiciary Committee held a public
hearing for HB 2853.
In its original form, it was an unnecessary, but mostly innocuous
bill. But as so often happens, an effort was made to"gut
and stuff" the bill and turn it into a far more dangerous
and intrusive piece of legislation.
The original meaning of the bill was stripped out, and language
was introduced in the form of 10 pages of amendments that made
the bill a far different animal.
The new language would force Oregon to comply with HR 2640,
a Federal law passed in 2007.
You may recall that 2640 was a gun control bill that was
dead until it was revived by the National Rifle Association.
On the day it was passed,
both the NRA and the Brady Campaign sent out "victory"
messages, but the bill was anything but a "victory"
for gun owners.
For an analysis of the bill, see here.
For more information see here.
Here's what notorious gun grabber, Senator Chuck Schumer, said
about the bill: "When the NRA and I agree on legislation,
you know that it's going to get through, become law and do some
good."
The point of the bill was to turn over, to the Federal government,
vast databases of the mental health records of Americans. Under
the guise of preventing mentally ill people from buying guns
(an absurd notion in itself considering that the shooter in
the recent Binghamton NY killings was a New York State pistol
license holder) the bill greatly expanded the failed Brady bill
by including records formally kept private.
While no one wants to see people who are dangerously mentally
ill acquiring firearms, our experience with the background check
system has proven over and over that perfectly qualified people
are routinely delayed and denied firearms purchases because
of faulty or poor record keeping. Now Oregon wants to
share the mental health records of its citizens with the most
openly anti-gun administration in American history. With top
Democrats reversing earlier positions and now embracing the
new gun control restrictions promoted by Obama/Clinton, the
disclosure of these records is an almost certain recipe for
abuse.
As you can see by the GOA analysis referenced above, one of
the principle dangers in the legislation is to veterans who
may very well lose their gun rights because of a diagnosis of
post traumatic stress, a condition experienced by a large number
of veterans to greater or lesser extent after combat.
The amendments to 2853 were described by the Oregon State Police
as being intended to allow them to receive mental health records
and share them with the National Instant Check System.
We believe that irrespective of the stated intention of the
records transfer, the potential for abuse by a militantly anti-gun
administration is overwhelming. (Even now, medical databases
are error prone, telling insurance companies that medicines
prescribed for conditions such acid reflux are actually anti-psychotic)
Currently, background checks for gun purchases in Oregon are
done by the Oregon State Police. Even if one concluded that
handing over mental health records to the State Police was justified,
it is hard to justify giving that personal information to FBI.
While some may claim Oregon is simply complying with Federal
mandates, we have shown no reluctance to stand up to those mandates
on other issues.
The Federal bill was opposed by the Military
Order of the Purple Heart,
The American Legion, Gun Owners of America and state wide
gun rights organizations from coast to coast.
The bill was an ill-thought-out reaction to the Virginia Tech
Shootings and will do nothing to protect Americans from crime,
while invading the privacy of millions of citizens.
The NRA/ Brady mandate should not be imposed on Oregonians.
Please contact the House Judiciary Committee and express your
opposition to the "Dash 1" amendments to HB 2853.
The bill is scheduled for a "work session" and possible
vote April 20th.
Committee
Contact Info
Sample message:
________________________________________________________________________
Dear Representative,
The dash 1 amendments to HB 2853 represent an vast invasion
of privacy and create tremendous potential for abuse.
I strongly urge you to protect the residents of Oregon by not
adding their personal mental health records to giant federal
databases beyond our control.
Thank you,
___________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________
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© 2000 - 2010, Oregon Firearms Federation. All Rights Reserved.
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