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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMental Health Issues Put 34,500 on New York’s No-Guns List
The database, established in the aftermath of the mass shooting in 2012 at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and maintained by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, is the result of the Safe Act. It is an expansive package of gun control measures pushed through by the administration of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. The law, better known for its ban on assault weapons, compels licensed mental health professionals in New York to report to the authorities any patient likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to self or others.
But the number of entries in the database highlights the difficulty of Americas complicated balancing act between public safety and the right to bear arms when it comes to people with mental health issues. That seems extraordinarily high to me, said Sam Tsemberis, a former director of New York Citys involuntary hospitalization program for homeless and dangerous people, now the chief executive of Pathways to Housing, which provides housing to the mentally ill. Assumed dangerousness is a far cry from actual dangerousness.
The way the law has played out, local officials said, frontline mental health workers feel compelled to routinely report mentally ill patients brought to an emergency room by the police or ambulances. County health officials are then supposed to vet each case before it is sent to Albany. But so many names are funneled to county health authorities through the system about 500 per week statewide that they have become, in effect, clerical workers, rubber-stamping the decisions, they said. From when the reporting requirement took effect on March 16, 2013 until Oct. 3, 41,427 reports have been made on people who have been flagged as potentially dangerous. Among these, 40,678 all but a few hundred cases were passed to Albany by county officials, according to the data obtained by The Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/19/nyregion/mental-reports-put-34500-on-new-yorks-no-guns-list.html
I don't necessarily have a problem with identifying dangerous people and ensuring they are not a danger to society but there has to be a better way than this. When dealing with people that have mental health issues, the state has to strictly respect their rights and privacy simply because they cannot stand up for themselves.
NutmegYankee
(16,199 posts)Or is this like the No Fly list? The other thing I missed is where a court is involved. You can't take someone's rights or belongings without a court hearing per the fifth amendment.
Lurks Often
(5,455 posts)especially since the Veteran's Adminstration has refused to comply with the mental health reporting part of the SAFE Act.
http://www.thenewyorkworld.com/2013/03/11/veterans-safe-act/
NutmegYankee
(16,199 posts)If the law doesn't have a "due process" check, then it will go down in flames with a lawsuit as a violation of the fifth amendment. Even Conn. with it's law only allows seizure of firearms for a maximum of one year, within which a court hearing is required.
Due Process is an extremely important legal protection of citizens. It's why the state can't just take your car and sell it if your drivers license isn't renewed or it is suspended. It's why you can't just lose the right to vote for mental illness or whatever concern fancies the PTB. If we lose that protection, then no right is enforceable.
Lurks Often
(5,455 posts)it'll take years for the lawsuits to work their way through the system, with NY fighting it every step of the way and violating peoples rights the whole time. The worst part is that many will support this because it's about the "gunz!!". And this attack on Due Process is coming from a someone who considers himself a Democrat.
NutmegYankee
(16,199 posts)But I agree that because of "GUNZ" some will gladly go along with a curtailing of vital civil liberties not realizing that the precedent will screw us in other areas.