However, HIIPA doesn't apply here, since this is all court-level stuff. If a court orders you to a nut farm, or rules you to be mentally ill/deficient, that's all that regulation applies to.
A voluntary self-admission to a hospital because you are depressed when your sister died (for example) wouldn't be a 4473 disqualifier -- nor should it be.
It was just an idea. Something clearly went very wrong with the background check system to allow this to slip through the cracks - it’s not like “Seung-Hui Cho” is a very common name in America like “John Smith”, so that reason is ruled out.
Look for the liberals to claim that this proves the background check system is broken because the Republicans didn’t throw enough money at, that an instant background check system “just won’t work”, and that therefore the only answer is to ban private ownership of firearms.
Court records are by definition public records. His court adjudication would not be covered by HIPAA.