WSJ Mental Health Backlog Article

The aftermath of superstorm Sandy is having an impact on gun ownership in one New Jersey county—an unusual intersection of current events.

The storm's floodwaters damaged tens of thousands of Essex County mental health records used as part of background checks for gun purchases, county officials said, meaning some prospective gun owners have not been able to buy pistols or rifles for several months.

The delays—which come during a nationwide debate over gun rights in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting—have caused some Second Amendment advocates to cry foul.

"A right delayed is a right denied," said Kevin Desouza, 25 years old, who said he applied for an identification card to purchase a firearm in late October following break-ins near his Newark home.

The months-long backlog coincides with a surge in gun ownership in New Jersey and across the country, as some residents fear stricter firearms laws following the Newtown shooting.

Officials say the backlog is close to being cleared. The damaged mental health records have been restored and are being reorganized and used for background checks, said James Paganelli, the Essex County administration's counsel and adjuster, who oversees the records.

Gun applicants with last names from A to E were slated to be reviewed Wednesday, while the rest of the backlog may be cleared by next week.

The backlog came about after Sandy flooded a Belleville storage facility containing the Essex County mental health records, said Mr. Paganelli. The files, which are displayed on 3-by-5-inch paper index cards as mandated by state regulation, were stored in a cabinet-like structure.

"There were close to 50,000 mental health record cards that had to be restored," wrote Anthony Puglisi, an Essex County spokesman, in an email.

After getting into the substantially flooded building and retrieving the cards, county officials sent out the records for drying and to be treated for any mold, said Mr. Paganelli. Belfor, a restoration company, handled the project.

County officials said they could not provide the number of delayed requests.

The mental health record is just one of the many documents that law-enforcement officials use as part of the gun purchasing application process, said Lt. Stephen Jones, a State Police spokesman.

Along with fingerprints and application forms, the prospective gun owner goes through an extensive background check that includes personal references, arrest files and motor vehicle records, said Sgt. Glenn Ross, assistant head of the State Police firearms investigation unit.

And right before they acquire the firearm from the gun vendor, buyers also go through one last background check done by the State Police, called the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS.

The mental health records are generated when a person gets involuntarily committed for treatment by the courts, said Mr. Paganelli.

New Jersey—where the state Assembly has passed new regulations that will be taken up soon by the Senate—had a record number of background checks for gun purchases last year, 85,851, compared with 60,256 in 2011, according to FBI statistics. The state is on record pace in the first two months of this year, said Lt. Jones.

Scott Bach, executive director of the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, the state affiliate of the National Rifle Association, said he had received many phone calls about the issue.

"It's hard enough to be a law-abiding gun owner in New Jersey. The last thing we need is government bureaucracy and inefficiency getting in the way of the exercise of a fundamental right," said Mr. Bach.

Michael Osias, 39, a Verona resident, had applied for a pistol permit in September.

"To me, it's not fair," he said. "I don't have mental health records."