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Representative says bill would stop automatic purge of involuntary‑commitment records from gun‑background checks in rural counties
Summary
Representative Butler presented House Bill 285 to create a court‑based process for removing involuntary‑commitment records from background‑check databases instead of automatic computer purges; she said the change responds to rural safety incidents and that existing purge practices remove disqualifying records after a set period.
Representative Butler described House Bill 285 as a response to rural law‑enforcement concerns that electronic background‑check systems automatically purge involuntary‑commitment records after a set period, allowing some individuals to purchase firearms without local knowledge of past involuntary commitments. She said the change would require an individual to return to the committing court to seek removal from the database rather than being purged automatically.
Butler said the problem disproportionately affects rural communities where sellers and local law enforcement may know a person’s history but databases do not. She told the committee that over the past seven years about 2,066 people were involuntarily committed statewide and some 1,451 records had been purged; she said about 300 involuntary commitments occur annually on average, and that 95% of those had been purged by the computer system in her cited period. The representative emphasized the measure is not anti‑gun but aims to ensure people who purchase guns are “healthy and will not do harm to themselves or others.”
Committee members asked clarifying questions about the statutes referenced and the scale of the effect in probate courts; Butler said the bill had passed the House in prior sessions but stalled in the Senate. No vote was recorded in the transcript; the committee did not take final action during the hearing.
Representative Butler invited follow‑up questions and left the committee with numbers and background about prior interactions with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and probate judges.
