Action News Jax Investigates why people with serious mental issues are not being added to a state gun registry in a timely manner.
A recent audit found thousands of people were not being put onto the list before the deadline required by law.
The mental health records are supposed to be entered into the system within a month. A report from the State of Florida Auditor General shows that more than 5,000 records were entered past that deadline.
When someone buys in Florida, the state runs a background check that includes checking records of mental competency, something gun owner Tony Self agrees with.
“I want everybody to be able to buy firearms that is with sound mind and body,” Self said.
State law requires that court clerks add certain records related to mental competency to a system used for background checks within a month.
Specifically, the law specifies that State Clerks of Court are to electronically submit to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, within one month after the rendering of an adjudication or commitment, court records of an adjudication of mental defectiveness or commitment to a mental institution.
Action News Jax spoke to neighbor Margaret Green about the issue.
"So many things happen with guns, so why wouldn’t they input that information right away?” Green said.
According to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records from June 2014 through February 2016, approximately 33,345 of these records were added to the Florida Mental Competency application.
But according to a report from the Auditor General 5,771 of those records were added after the one-month deadline. Two hundred eighty six were added after more than 180 days after the date of adjudication or commitment. Sixty-one were added more than a year after the date of adjudication or commitment
“That’s too long, that’s too long,” Self said.
"The state of Florida has certainly a duty to protect its citizens and the people possessing guns actually are lawfully able to do so,” said attorney Chris Carson.
Action News Jax spoke about the issue of delayed record input with Carson.
“I think the issue that has been coming up with FDLE is that the court system and some of the other players have not been reporting things in a timely fashion,” Carson said.
In a letter to the Auditor General, FDLE said to fix the issue, they’ll build a web-service to help court clerks submit records faster.
“Once they find out that someone is mentally incompetent, they need to put that into the records right away, because if they don’t, that person can still buy a gun and we don’t know what they might do,” Green said.
“If I get pulled over for a speeding ticket and my license are out of date, they know immediately. Why isn’t it the same for firearms? Why not?” Self said.
Carson said if records were entered after the one-month deadline and one of those individuals was able to buy a gun and then committed a crime, the state and other agencies involved could be liable and face lawsuits.