Editorial roundup: June 22, 2018

Recent editorials from South Carolina newspapers:

The Post and Courier

June 20

Policies should be updated to prevent tragedies

The man who murdered nine men and women at Emanuel AME Church ... should never have been able to purchase the weapon he used to commit that atrocity. That fact is now well established.

It even has a name - the Charleston Loophole.

Generally that term refers to the fact that the federally mandated three-day waiting period expired before Dylann Roof's background check turned up evidence of a misdemeanor drug charge that should have at least temporarily disqualified him from purchasing a gun from a licensed dealer.

But while that's technically true, it's hardly the whole story. Federal and local officials made a variety of errors before, during and after the background check that allowed Mr. Roof to obtain a weapon. The list of mistakes and the outdated policies that led to them is too long to rehash in this space.

Suffice it to say that major reform is needed. And the families of the Emanuel victims were entirely reasonable and indeed responsible in suing the government for its devastating failure. Unfortunately, a section of a federal law all but prevented those lawsuits from going anywhere. And on Monday, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel threw out 16 such cases.

"Neither a local government nor an employee of the federal government or any state or local government responsible for providing information to the national instant criminal background check system (NICS) shall be liable for failure to prevent the sale or transfer of a firearm," reads the relevant portion of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, which mandated background checks for certain gun sales.

That's pretty clear. And it makes sense for the most part. The government would expose itself to tremendous liability by allowing lawsuits over gun-sale background checks.

But it is difficult if not impossible to come up with another case in which a failure in the background check system has led to such horrific tragedy. The severity of the consequences for the government's mistakes leading up to the Emanuel shooting demand that changes be made to prevent future disasters.

Mr. Gergel made it clear that he agrees.

"The fault here lies in some abysmally poor policy choices regarding the operation of the NICS," wrote Judge Gergel in his ruling. "The glaring weaknesses revealed in the background check system are the function of distinct policy choices made by the FBI, not violations of specific legal standards."

Policies must be updated. Technologies must be brought up to date. Communication between law enforcement departments and agencies must be improved.

But the Charleston Loophole, in all of that term's complexity, isn't really a loophole at all. It's a gaping abyss. And no amount of correction to the NICS will resolve it, because about a fifth of all guns are purchased - legally - without a background check.

Buyers can go to gun shows or search online classified ads to find private gun sellers. Since the seller is not a federally licensed dealer, the purchaser is not required to pass a background check.

Who knows if a more effective background check system would have stopped a mass shooter from getting his gun. It would have at least been a temporary obstacle. But it is painfully clear that it would have been all too easy for him to obtain a weapon elsewhere.

That must change.

Americans, including gun owners, overwhelmingly support universal background checks. Legislators need to catch up with public opinion. And efforts to expand background checks must coincide with systematic reforms to the NICS.

Otherwise, even violent criminals will continue to be able to easily and legally purchase deadly weapons.

The Times and Democrat

June 20

State efforts to address opioids were overdue

In December, Gov. Henry McMaster, calling opioid abuse a "silent hurricane going on in our state," took several actions including limiting opioid prescriptions under two state programs.

He declared a statewide public health emergency that allows authorities to more easily coordinate emergency management, health care and law enforcement resources.

The governor also created the state Opioid Emergency Response Team, which has been tasked with utilizing South Carolina's emergency management infrastructure developing a statewide plan for addressing the crisis.

Six months later, McMaster says the state has made progress in a dual crisis - for health care and law enforcement.

Most recently, the governor signed into law nine bills passed by the General Assembly in 2018 related to opioids:

H.3819: Prescriptions to minors - Requires that doctors speak with minors in educating them and their families before prescribing opioids. It requires a consent form to be signed by a minor's parent/guardian after the doctor discusses the opioids that are being prescribed.

H.3822: Controlled substance schedules - The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control must report any changes made to the schedules listing controlled substances and the addition, deletion or rescheduling of a substance.

H.3826: Prescriptions - Requires DHEC to develop the form and content for a counterfeit-resistant prescription blank, which must be used by practitioners for the purpose of prescribing a controlled substance.

H.4117: Confidentiality exceptions - Allows DHEC to release data from the Prescription Monitoring Program to a drug court official seeking information related to a specific case involving a designated person.

H.4487: Controlled substances, scheduling - Clarifies that DHEC can continue to amend the list of controlled substances to conform to scheduling changes by the Drug Enforcement Administration but must forward copies of the change to officials in the Legislature. DHEC must post the schedules on the department's website indicating the change and specifying the effective date.

H.4488: Confidentiality exceptions - Authorizes DHEC to provide data in the Prescription Monitoring Program to a coroner, deputy coroner, medical examiner or deputy medical examiner involved in a specific inquiry into the cause and manner of death of a designated person.

H.4600: Opioid antidote, prescriptions to community organizations - Adds a section to the South Carolina Opioid Prevention Act stating that a prescriber may directly or by standing order prescribe an opioid antidote (such as Naloxone) to a community distributor for the purpose of distributing the antidote to caregivers of people who are at risk of overdosing and to people who know that they have the potential to overdose.

H.4601: Addiction counselors - Requires anyone representing himself as an addiction counselor to be licensed and establishes requirements for licensure.

S.918: Opioid prescriptions, limits, prescription report cards - Establishes a seven-day limit on the initial prescription of opioids for acute pain management or post-operative pain management. Exceptions are specified and include cancer and hospice care.

Opioid overdoses caused 616 deaths in South Carolina in 2016, nearly double the state's 366 homicides and 331 drunken driving deaths. The state had to act.

Addressing opioid abuse as an emergency was overdue in South Carolina much the same as across the country. New actions and laws can save lives and prevent more people from becoming addicted to the drugs.

But as McMaster said, "We're making great progress, but this is only the beginning - certainly not the end."