HB 366-INVOLUNTARY COMMITMENT; FIREARMS  1:52:31 PM CHAIR COGHILL reconvened the meeting and announced the consideration of HB 366. "An Act relating to reporting an involuntary mental health commitment to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System; relating to the sealing of records of mental health proceedings; and relating to relief from a disability resulting from an involuntary commitment or an adjudication of mental illness or mental incompetence." This was the first hearing. [CSHB 366(JUD) was before the committee.] 1:52:58 PM REPRESENTATIVE LANCE PRUITT, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, sponsor of HB 366, introduced the legislation speaking to the following sponsor statement: Alaska upholds a steadfast tradition of the right to responsible firearm ownership. A fundamental component of this responsibility is the assurance that firearm retailers will have access to timely and relevant information in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) database. HB 366 pertains to the transmittal of information from the Alaska Court System to the NICS administrators. The database was established in 1994 to provide information to Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) regarding persons who are prohibited from possessing a firearm under Section 922(g) or (n) of Title 18 USC. Currently, the State of Alaska does not require the courts to transmit these records. This places the Federal Firearms Licensees at a greater risk of selling a firearm to an individual who may pose a risk to themselves or to the public. Alaskan FFLs submitted 93,405 transaction inquiries to the NICS database in 2013, ranking the state second highest in the number of inquiries per capita. However, the NICS database only contains a single entry regarding an individual who is prevented from firearm possession due to mental health reasons, as adjudicated by the courts. House Bill 366 works with the courts to establish a system to transfer the limited necessary information with the NICS administrators regarding persons who are adjudicated in Alaska courts as unfit to possess a firearm due to mental health reasons. The bill also addresses the process for appealing such adjudications. The State of Alaska leads the way in our defense of firearms rights, and the key to preserving that right is the assurance that FFLs will not be at risk of selling a firearm to an individual who is legally barred by the courts. HB 366 assures that Alaska's courts will transmit information to the NICS database, thereby protecting our FFLs, our gun rights, and the people of Alaska. CHAIR COGHILL identified the individuals who were available to testify and answer questions. 1:59:16 PM SENATOR DYSON asked if people who are involuntarily committed have their names posted on CourtView. REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT deferred to the court system. 2:00:32 PM NANCY MEADE, General Counsel, Administrative Section, Alaska Court System, advised that involuntary commitments are confidential case types so nothing about the case is available on CourtView and the paper files are not accessible either. SENATOR DYSON asked the reasoning for not having those cases available to the public. MS. MEADE replied they're identified as confidential in statute. She didn't know the legislature's reasoning for doing that, but presumably it was because of the privacy interests involved. SENATOR DYSON asked if it's akin to health information. MS. MEADE said she assumes so. SENATOR DYSON asked her to follow up with the statutory reference. 2:02:01 PM JAKE MCGUIGAN, Director of Government Relations, National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), Connecticut, said that NSSF is the trade association for the firearms industry. Over the past year NSSF has focused attention on the "FixNICS" campaign to make sure that people who should not have access to firearms don't have access. Federal law says that a person who has been involuntarily committed is a prohibited person with respect to owning a firearm. In the past year NSSF has focused attention on the 15 states that do not send their records on involuntary commitment with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) database. He noted that the governors of South Dakota and Nebraska recently signed FixNICS legislation into law. Hawaii and Massachusetts both have legislation moving forward. MR. MCGUIGAN said the industry is not looking to expand the categories of prohibited persons, and it supports the restoration of rights provision included in HB 366. He stressed that this is not a gun control or gun rights initiative. It is simply an effort to make sure that persons who should not have access to firearms do not have access. The person responsible for the Virginia Tech shooting is a good example. His records were not in the system but they should have been there. That incident is what started the NICS Improvement Act and there have been other shootings since then. 2:06:14 PM CHAIR COGHILL asked if other states have had a similar law in place long enough to have had a court proceeding. MR. MCGUIGAN replied each state approaches the court proceedings and restoration of rights differently. He discussed the procedure in Rhode Island as an illustration. CHAIR COGHILL said that HB 366 provides that the appeals for restoration will be made directly to the court and the question will be one of extraordinary burden. MR. MCGUIGAN related that the Rhode Island bill envisions a panel of mental health and other experts to make the decision outside the court setting. NSSF is working to change that bill because the panel is too extensive. CHAIR COGHILL asked Ms. Meade if the court would have any difficulty immediately transmitting the personal identifying information set forth in Section 5 to the Department of Public Safety. MS. MEADE said immediate implementation is not a problem; the courts could get the information, if it's known, to DPS on the same day as an involuntary commitment was ordered. If the order was late in the day, it would perhaps be the next day. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if the courts contact the NICS system in other circumstances. MS. MEADE clarified that the court doesn't send the information to NICS, but it does send information daily to other departments. For example, the court sends an email to the Division of Motor Vehicles with any action that's been taken on people's driver's licenses. She believes the courts already sent information to DPS, but would follow up to make certain. CHAIR COGHILL asked who would report the information to NICS once it's transmitted to DPS. 2:11:20 PM KATHRYN MONFREDA, Chief, Criminal Records and Identification Bureau, Division of Statewide Services, Department of Public Safety (DPS), explained that dispositions on all criminal actions are reported to the criminal Records section of DPS, updated to the Alaska Public Safety Information Network (APSIN), and forwarded to the FBI. The mental health commitments would follow a similar process but the information would be electronically transmitted to the NICS database instead of APSIN. CHAIR COGHILL asked the process for removing a name from the NICS database. MS. MONFREDA said DPS envisions developing an electronic system to transmit the information to NICS. When DPS receives a relief from disabilities, the same process would be used to remove the information from the NICS index. Removing the name wouldn't be any more difficult than adding a name. 2:13:29 PM SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked how many people in the state of Alaska are involuntarily committed or adjudicated with mental illness. MS. MEADE reported that about 200 30-day or longer mental health commitments are filed each year and about 50 percent of those are granted. The bill doesn't apply to the much more common three-day commitments. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if she had data for three-day commitments. MS. MEADE said the total mental health commitments filed in 2013 was 2,579 and the total in 2012 was 2,249. CHAIR COGHILL commented on the reasons for three-day commitments. MS. MEADE said the court calls three-day commitments hospitalizations or evaluation periods. At the end of the period a small subset receives a further petition by doctors in order for the court to adjudge them worthy of an involuntary commitment. SENATOR COGHILL asked Jill Montgomery to discuss the process and ease with which a name is removed from the NICS database. 2:16:27 PM JILL MONTGOMERY, Supervisory NICS Liaison at FBI, West Virginia, said that record sharing with the FBI is voluntary from the state perspective. The FBI views the state as the owner of the record so the state has complete control over it. She assured the committee that the FBI would have no questions about the removal of a record. CHAIR COGHILL said he wanted that assurance on the record. SENATOR DYSON asked about the people who have chosen to have themselves committed to API, but haven't gone through the involuntary commitment process. REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT said he understands the concern, but he didn't know if there was a way to address the individuals who choose to be committed. 2:21:26 PM CHAIR COGHILL questioned why the Section 3 deletes the reference to expunging records. REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT deferred to Ms. Meade. MS. MEADE said the existing law speaks to expunging or sealing court records that are already identified as confidential. The change in Section 3 allows people who have been committed to ask the court to make their records even more secure by sealing them. This makes the record unavailable to anyone who doesn't have a court order. The sponsor graciously agreed to delete the reference to expunging a record because the court never utterly destroys a record. 2:24:23 PM DARYL NELSON, President, Mind Freedom Alaska and Alaskans for Disability Rights, Chugiak, Alaska, testified in opposition to HB 366. The unintended consequence is that it may make it easier to involuntarily commit a person, he said. SENATOR DYSON said he appreciates the concern but it's not warranted in this case. MR. NELSON maintained his position. 2:28:09 PM REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT read AS 47.30.730 and reassured Mr. Nelson and others that the petition for a 30-day commitment isn't random or arbitrary. Due process is in place. CHAIR COGHILL said he wanted it clear that the process to get a name removed from the NICS database is as easy as adding a name. REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT said he worked closely with the NRA on that key piece to assure Alaskans that their name could be removed from the NICS database. Furthermore, the language in the bill is in sync with federal language to ensure that the names can be removed. CHAIR COGHILL asked if that was the reference to 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(4). REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT said he believes so. 2:32:07 PM CHAIR COGHILL stated that he would hold HB 366 for further consideration.