Source: http://smartgunlaws.org/mental-health-reporting-in-alaska/
Timestamp: 2017-06-27 06:57:28
Document Index: 48547540

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 922', '§ 47', '§ 47', '§ 44', '§ 44', '§ 47', '§ 47', '§ 47', '§ 47']

Mental Health Reporting in Alaska | Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Mental Health Reporting in Alaska
Last updated November 3, 2016.	See our Mental Health Reporting policy summary for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.
Until 2014, Alaska had no law requiring the reporting of mental health information to NICS. That changed with the passage of H.B. 366, however. Alaska law now requires that, upon issuing an order that a person be involuntarily committed, a superior court must immediately transmit specified identifying information about the individual, if known, to the Department of Public Safety.2 The court must also report the statutory authority for the involuntary commitment; report whether the person was offered an opportunity to be heard and represented by counsel in the involuntary commitment proceeding; and report any other information required by the Department of Public Safety or by the U.S. Department of Justice for inclusion in the NICS database.3 This reporting requirement does not apply to individuals released before the expiration of a 72-hour commitment period.4
Upon receiving this information, the Department of Public Safety must transmit the information to the U.S. Department of Justice for inclusion in the NICS database.5 Information obtained or retained pursuant to this reporting requirement is confidential and is not a public record, though it may be used by the Department of Public Safety to determine whether a person is qualified to receive and hold a permit to carry a concealed handgun.6
Alaska also established a process in 2014 for a person who is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law as a result of an involuntary commitment or an adjudication of mental illness or incompetence that occurred in Alaska to petition a court for relief from the firearm disability.7 In ruling on such a petition, Alaska law instructs the court to consider:
(A) the circumstances of the involuntary commitment or adjudication of mental illness or mental incompetence;
(B) the time that has elapsed since the involuntary commitment or adjudication of mental illness or mental incompetence;
(C) the person’s reputation and mental health and criminal history records;
(D) any conduct by the person that would constitute a “crime against a person” under Alaska law or a violation of Alaska’s firearm-related criminal statutes; and
(E) any changes in the person’s condition or circumstances relevant to the relief sought.8
The court shall grant the petitioner’s request if the court finds, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the person is unlikely to act in a manner dangerous to self or to public safety; and granting the relief is not contrary to the public interest.9
If the court grants the petition, the court must immediately transmit specified information, if known, to the Department of Public Safety, which must then, in turn, transmit the information to the U.S. Department of Justice so the record will be removed from the NICS database.10
For general information on the background check process and categories of prohibited purchasers or possessors, see the Alaska Background Checks section and the section entitled Prohibited Purchasers Generally.
Notes18 U.S.C. § 922(d)(4). ⤴︎Alaska Stat. § 47.30.907(a). ⤴︎Id. ⤴︎Alaska Stat. § 47.30.907(b). ⤴︎Alaska Stat. § 44.41.045(a). ⤴︎Alaska Stat. §§ 44.41.045(c), (d). ⤴︎Alaska Stat. § 47.30.851(a). ⤴︎Alaska Stat. § 47.30.851(b)(1). ⤴︎Alaska Stat. § 47.30.851(b)(2). ⤴︎Alaska Stat. §§ 47.30.907, 44.41.045. ⤴︎	117,000