RENO, Nev. (MyNews4.com & KRNV) - The questions continue to grow about the effectiveness of a state law designed to make you safer. News 4 told you already several district courts were not reporting the names of mentally ill defendants to a database that helps keep them from buying guns. Now we've confirmed that local municipal mental health courts aren't sending the information either, but this time it may be because of the way the law was written.
The law in question is very specific saying names are only to be sent over if someone is involuntarily committed, found not-guilty by reason of insanity or any three other items listed. All of those things happen in district court no* mental health courts. Mental health courts are actually an alternative aimed at getting treatment for offenders with impairment instead of putting them in jail over and over again. They hope to take care of the problem before one of those five things has to happen in the higher district court.
The state attorney general's office was the one that originally pushed for this bill. News 4 asked them if they saw a problem with this setup and would consider sponsoring another piece of legislation to fix it.
"We would expect any loopholes to be worked out with the Division of Records and Technology within the Department of Public Safety (who now oversees collecting the information) in order to be corrected in the next legislative session,” AG Spokeswoman Jenifer Lopez said.
