Alaska seeks to boost gun background check system reporting
By BECKY BOHRER
Associated Press
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska lawmakers are considering requiring the courts to review for a federal database system records dating to 1981 for individuals who have been involuntarily committed and would be restricted from owning firearms.
The provision is part of a broader bill on crime and being pushed by Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration as a way to prevent future violence or suicides.
A spokesman for the National Rifle Association said the group supports submission of all relevant records to the system.
The provision, if approved, would be an expansion of a 2014 state law requiring the courts to provide to the Department of Public Safety information on involuntary commitments.
That law set out a process by which affected individuals could seek to have their gun rights restored.