A new cross-check system between separate state law enforcement agencies has turned up 41 ineligible holders of Ohio concealed-weapon permits.
Ohioans who have been deemed by a court to be mentally incompetent are not allowed to possess firearms or have concealed carry licenses. Yet a recent cross-check of databases by the state’s Attorney General showed more than three dozen mentally ill Ohioans still had active concealed carry permits.
Yost says local law enforcement authorities were alerted so they could strip guns and licenses away.
“If a court of law, after due process, determines you are not competent to handle your own affairs, you shouldn’t have a gun," Yost says.
Under Ohio law, judicial rulings on mental incompetence are collected by the Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation. But Yost says this was the first time the state has cross-referenced that list with concealed carry licensees, which is maintained by the Department of Public Safety.
A permanent, automated cross-checking is now in place to ensure local sheriff’s offices are notified when people are declared mentally incompetent so officers can confiscate their licenses and guns.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
