WASHINGTON June 13 — Complicated privacy laws have left education, health care, and law enforcement officials confused about what they can legally tell one another concerning dangerous and mentally ill people, and that confusion has limited the ability of these officials to prevent the kind of violence that occurred at Virginia Tech, according to a federal report released today.

The federal report also says that many states and communities have done too little to prepare for emergencies and violent incidents in schools. And it says that state laws do not uniformly ensure that the federal firearms database is kept current regarding people who should be restricted from possessing firearms.

As a result of these problems, the federal report says, mentally ill people do not get the counseling and monitoring they need, and weapons are not kept from those who should be not have them.

The report was prepared jointly by the departments of Health and Human Services, Justice, and Education at the request of President George W. Bush.