Privacy vs. Gun Control, the Debate Continues

Just when we thought the HIPAA Final Rule was, well, "final," HHS may be making additional changes less than seven months since the behemoth Final Rule was published in January 2013.

Since December, President Obama has called for the creation of the National Instant Background Check System, or NICS - a database to be used by gun dealers to determine whether a potential gun buyer is prohibited from purchasing a gun.

The database only works, however, if states volunteer lists of residents who are not allowed by guns because of, among other reasons, they have been involuntarily committed to a mental hospital, or a court has found them to have a serious mental illness. Currently many states do not participate, so the Obama administration is seeking to change part of HIPAA to require state reporting.

Although HHS has not yet released a proposed outline for this rule change, they have received over 2,000 comment letters from gun advocates and mental health professionals, alike. While gun advocates fight for the constitutional rights of gun owners, mental health professionals worry that this new HIPAA modification would compound the stigma of mental illness and could discourage those patients from seeking treatment.

However, even with an expanded database, the gunshow loophole remains.  As many as 40% of firearms ar purchased at such venues where the NICS system is not required.  Mark Heyrman, mental health professor at the University of Chicago noted that adding more records to the ineffective database will only hurt people's privacy without improving safety.

The move toward an expansion of the database falls on the heels of the government's collection of of citizens' phone and internet data in the national headlines, creating worry that this database may one day go public.