Attorney General Joseph Foster says New Hampshire will start reporting certain mental health records to the national gun background check system based on an overlooked piece of a Medicaid expansion bill.But advocates for people with mental illness and some lawmakers say Foster is misinterpreting the law.Federal law prohibits the possession of firearms by people who have been "adjudicated as a mental defective" or committed to a hospital. But New Hampshire is one of a few states that doesn't report these records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.Republican Rep. JR Hoell says the amendment he added to the Medicaid bill is meant to prohibit the sharing of mental health records without a court order. But Foster says the language now requires New Hampshire to report records.

Attorney General Joseph Foster says New Hampshire will start reporting certain mental health records to the national gun background check system based on an overlooked piece of a Medicaid expansion bill.

But advocates for people with mental illness and some lawmakers say Foster is misinterpreting the law.


Federal law prohibits the possession of firearms by people who have been "adjudicated as a mental defective" or committed to a hospital. But New Hampshire is one of a few states that doesn't report these records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

Republican Rep. JR Hoell says the amendment he added to the Medicaid bill is meant to prohibit the sharing of mental health records without a court order. But Foster says the language now requires New Hampshire to report records.