Gun-control laws that require mental-health professionals to
report mentally ill people who are likely to harm others are
unlikely to make a dent in gun violence, health researchers say.
States intent on avoiding another tragedy like the shootings in
Newtown, Conn., are focusing legislative efforts on the mental
state of people who own, or want to buy, guns. Some states are
debating bills similar to a 2001 California law, which allows
law enforcement to confiscate firearms from the mentally ill.
Others are discussing proposals to improve reporting to a
national database on people who should be prohibited from buying
guns. Mental-health experts say some of these proposals will
close important loopholes. Other bills, however, could unfairly
stigmatize the mentally ill — and even drive some away from care
— says Paul Appelbaum, a professor of psychiatry, medicine and
law at the Columbia University College of Physicians and
Surgeons in New York. Targeting the mentally ill is unlikely to
make much of a dent in the