WHB/3/2
Sponsored by Thomas Bland, Lee Fowler, Field Richardson of Evangelical Christian School
This legislation was filed in the Safety and Homeland Security category
Presented as part of the YIG Volunteer 2024 conference
| 1 | BE IT ENACTED BY THE TENNESSEE YMCA YOUTH IN GOVERNMENT |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Section 1: Terms in this act will be defined as follows: |
| 4 | Mental Health Screening: A standard set of questions that a person answers to help a health care |
| 5 | provider check for signs of a mental disorder. These questions aim to screen for mood, anxiety, |
| 6 | eating, attention deficit hyperactivity, post-traumatic stress, personality, substance use, and |
| 7 | psychotic disorders. Services are offered both in person and virtually. |
| 8 | Antidepressants: Prescription medication designed to treat depression, anxiety, chronic pain, or |
| 9 | insomnia. Common medications include Prozac, Paxil, Luvox, Celexa, Cipralex, Lexapro, and |
| 10 | Zoloft. |
| 11 | Benzodiazepines: Depressants that produce sedation and hypnosis, relieve anxiety and muscle |
| 12 | spasms, and reduce seizures. They slow down the central nervous system and may cause |
| 13 | sleepiness and a relaxed mood. This prescription medication is also associated with amnesia, |
| 14 | hostility, irritability, and vivid or disturbing dreams. Common medications include Valium, Xanax, |
| 15 | Halcion, Ativan, Klonopin, ProSom, Dalmane, Restoril, Halcion, and Versed. |
| 16 | Antipsychotics: Prescription medicines used to treat symptoms of psychosis. These symptoms |
| 17 | include hallucinations, delusions, dementia, and other psychotic experiences such as |
| 18 | schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, forms of bipolar disorder, severe depression, and |
| 19 | personality disorder. Common medications include Risperdal, Seroquel, Zyprexa, Zeldox, Invega, |
| 20 | Abilify, and Clozaril. |
| 21 | Mood Stabilizers: Prescription medication that is used in the management and treatment of bipolar |
| 22 | disorder, mania and hypomania, severe depression, and schizoaffective disorder. Common |
| 23 | medications include Lithium, anticonvulsants such as Tegretol, Lamictal, and Valproate, and may |
| 24 | include some antipsychotics as defined above. |
| 25 | Anxiolytics: Prescription medication that is aimed at treating patients with panic disorders, |
| 26 | generalized anxiety, and various other uses. They treat conditions such as generalized anxiety |
| 27 | disorder, panic disorder, specific phobia, agoraphobia, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). |
| 28 | Common medications include Valium, Xanax, Klonopin, Ativan, Gabapentin, Librium, and |
| 29 | Bupropion. |
| 30 | Central Nervous System Stimulant: A prescription medication that increases the levels of certain |
| 31 | chemicals in the brain and increases alertness, attention, energy, and physical activity. These |
| 32 | medications may also raise blood pressure and increase heart rate and breathing rate. They are |
| 33 | used to treat depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and narcolepsy. Common |
| 34 | medications include Vyvanse, Adipex, Adderall, Ritalin, Dexedrine, Focalin, and Concerta. |
| 35 | Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation: An evaluation that usually requires a few hours over one or |
| 36 | more office visits to assess behaviors present and in relation to physical, genetic, environmental, |
| 37 | social, cognitive, emotional, and education parts that may be affected as a result of these |
| 38 | |
| 39 | Section 2: This act shall require that in addition to the required background check, a mental health |
| 40 | screening be required before the purchase of any firearm. All mental health screenings will be |
| 41 | conducted by a licensed physician and may be conducted in person or online. The patient must |
| 42 | submit their medical history and current medications to the physician conducting their screening. |
| 43 | The results of this screening must be presented to the licensed guns dealer or seller. |
| 44 | |
| 45 | Section 3: Any individual who is flagged by the physician as having a mental health disorder will |
| 46 | be refrained from purchasing a firearm. This includes individuals who are currently taking any form |
| 47 | of prescription medication to treat mental illness such as antidepressants, benzodiazepines, |
| 48 | antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, anxiolytics, and central nervous system stimulants. |
| 49 | |
| 50 | Section 4: Individuals that take central nervous system stimulants for the purpose of ADHD may |
| 51 | appeal this act to purchase a firearm if their prescription is under a 30 mg per day recommended |
| 52 | dosage and they are cleared for purchase by the physician that performed their screening. |
| 53 | Individuals that take a higher dosage of these stimulants and wish to appeal will require a more |
| 54 | extensive screening at the discretion of the physician. |
| 55 | |
| 56 | Section 5: Individuals who wish to purchase a firearm and have a history of medication for a |
| 57 | mental illness but are no longer taking said medication must comply with a hair drug test and |
| 58 | submit proof that access to the prescription ended at least 8 months prior to the present date (in |
| 59 | addition to the mental health screening). |
| 60 | |
| 61 | Section 6: Individuals taking a form of prescription medication to treat mental illness who wish to |
| 62 | appeal this law must undergo a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation by a licensed physician in |
| 63 | which they must be cleared to purchase a firearm. |
| 64 | |
| 65 | Section 7: All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this are hereby repealed. |
| 66 | |
| 67 | Section 8: This act shall take effect June 1st, 2024. |
| 68 |