Alaska was included in a report identifying states which have not been alerting the FBI to people whose mental health issues would bar them from buying guns.
The gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety cites FBI data obtained through public-records requests which identified the six states as Vermont, Alaska, Oklahoma, Montana, Wyoming, and New Hampshire.
The report released Thursday stated Vermont, Alaska, and Oklahoma recently passed laws and will begin submitting records to the FBI identifying people who are involuntarily committed to mental health institutions.
The data will be used in the FBI’s National Criminal Background Check System, the program which aims to determine whether individuals should be barred from purchasing guns because of criminal conviction, mental health problems, or other issues.
Jonas Oransky with the gun control advocacy group says he hopes the renewed attention to background checks after recent shootings around the U.S. will prompt the remaining three states to pass laws.
