Letter: Medical records should be available

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To the editor,

With the recent horrible massacres using guns we note that most of the reactions are directed on limiting access to guns by folks who are really trying to follow the proper procedures. The goal seems to be that of making it more difficult but one point is seldom mentioned. I’ve been told that doctors are prohibited from telling anyone if they suspect a patient of having a mental problem.

I recall that this was very briefly mentioned after the horror of Sandy Hook where the mental condition of the creep was a given. I think doctors should be required to put suspicions like this on a public record available to those authorized to grant gun permits. For national security, these days, we are told to report anything we see that looks out of place. I would suggest that the same advice apply here also.

A couple years ago I bought a handgun from a major shop. While I’ve had a permit to carry a gun for many years at the time of this purchase I had to fill out some more paperwork that asked if I’d ever been institutionalized for mental reasons. In this situation, was this the right time to ask that question and was the buyer the proper one to be asked?

The whole system needs a bit of fine tuning. And then we can address the problem of the folks who simply don’t bother with any permits at all.

Ray Kunz

Beacon Falls