Psychological Assessments for Handling a Firearm
Gun violence in the United States results in tens of thousands of deaths and injuries annually. In 2013, there were 73,505 nonfatal firearm injuries (23.2 injuries per 100,000 U.S. citizens), and 33,636 deaths due to “injury by firearms” (10.6 deaths per 100,000 U.S. citizens). These deaths consisted of 11,208 homicides, 21,175 suicides, 505 deaths due to accidental or negligent discharge of a firearm, and 281 deaths due to firearms use with “undetermined intent”. Of the 2,596,993 total deaths in the US in 2013, 1.3% were related to firearms. The ownership and control of guns are among the most widely debated issues in the country.
According to United States federal law, individuals cannot buy a gun if a court or other authority has deemed them a “mental defective” or committed them involuntarily to a mental hospital.
A forensic mental health assessment can be a deterrent for people with mental illnesses getting access to firearms.
An assessment can also expedite the process for a person to carry a firearm when they don’t have a mental illness.
At gunassessment.com, our trained mental health clinicians, provide necessary psychological assessments to determine if a person should be allowed to handle a firearm. These assessments can be provided before the person gets access to the firearm, and/or redetermining if the person should have access to a firearm.