Molon labe
This article brings up a good debate subject and a really touchy issue. After the mass killings at Auora and Newtown, the gun lobby, NRA, et al starting saying we need to focus on the mental health issue not the gun issue.
Here a state is trying to take guns out of the hands of felons and mentally ill and people are up in arms over it. I agree that there is certainly potiential for abuse. But such a program, especially the felon part, could end up saving a bunch of lives. And if we can prevent a looney from committing another mass shooting, it will help a ton in the battle for the rest of us keeping our gun rights.
To me, I could support such a program for felons and mentally ill under certain circumstance such as:
1. Person must be adjudicated mentally incompetent by a court after a hearing.
2. Must be mechanism in place to protect ownership rights of the guns, and not a forfeiture situation.
3. Definitions must be clarified so that a person who is legally entitled to possess guns and lives in the same household can still have their guns.
Of course, any such system cannot work with out a gun registry, which I certainly do not support, so its a moot issue for now. My point in saying this is that it is a decent idea to try and keep the really mentally ill away from guns.
A question. Let's say one refuses to answer the door under these circumstances. Could police then lie and tell the occupants that there is some disaster requiring evacuation, like a nearby chemical release, and scare them into opening the door?
She may have went to the facility voluntarily, but she was committed involuntarily. According to the law (not saying I agrees with it) she can no longer legally own a firearm. California also confiscates weapons of people that have been convicted of felonies. I have no doubt that had this woman gone on a mass shooting after being committed people would be saying, she wasn't a legal gun owner, she had been committed to the funny farm. We have no idea what her diagnoses was. We don't know why she was committed. What we do know is that according to the law she was no longer legally allowed to own a firearm.
And you seem to have completely missed, of have chosen to ignore it, my point that "Confiscation Has Started!" is not accurate.
This article brings up a good debate subject and a really touchy issue. After the mass killings at Auora and Newtown, the gun lobby, NRA, et al starting saying we need to focus on the mental health issue not the gun issue.
Here a state is trying to take guns out of the hands of felons and mentally ill and people are up in arms over it. I agree that there is certainly potiential for abuse. But such a program, especially the felon part, could end up saving a bunch of lives. And if we can prevent a looney from committing another mass shooting, it will help a ton in the battle for the rest of us keeping our gun rights.
To me, I could support such a program for felons and mentally ill under certain circumstance such as:
1. Person must be adjudicated mentally incompetent by a court after a hearing.
2. Must be mechanism in place to protect ownership rights of the guns, and not a forfeiture situation.
3. Definitions must be clarified so that a person who is legally entitled to possess guns and lives in the same household can still have their guns.
Of course, any such system cannot work with out a gun registry, which I certainly do not support, so its a moot issue for now. My point in saying this is that it is a decent idea to try and keep the really mentally ill away from guns.
It just occurred to me that if the attempts to limit guns for us "law-abiders" fails in DC then the POTUS has a backdoor he is willing to use, and this thread seems to back it up, he is currently instructing the AG to investigate newly-named classes of people who pose a risk to society (what they really mean is a risk to the government) and one can be put on that list for little, or no reason, or worse, for a trumped up reason with the outcome being the same, outright confiscation of your firearms because you are classified into one of these categories...I think the the healthcare bill will be used in some way to identify people they can target to accomplish this. Some of the descriptions of suspicious behaviors used to classify you include (using cash to pay for your daily coffee run and many more asinine behaviors like this)
Yes, but most officers wouldn't. A civil court might disagree, but who wants to go down that road?
If she and her husband to choose to fight this, again, a civil court might disagree on the legality. It would depend on how the CA law is written. Ultimately, I think their primary recourse should be with the mental health facility. They made the decision to commit her involuntarily when she presented voluntarily. They were instrumental in voiding her constitutional rights, so go after them.
You might be technically correct that it's been going on all along, but now it's stepped way up and there's a lot more media attention. For a lot of people in the public who didn't know, this is a new issue. What this will ultimately bring about is a chilling effect on gun owners who should seek mental health support, but will be afraid to in reasonable fear of losing their rights.
The real issue here is a nurse recommending involuntary commitment, a doctor signing off on it and poof, you lose your rights. That's not how the federal law is written and I fully believe the CA law to be in violation of the US Constitution. It should definitely be challenged. As it is, they have no reasonable case against this woman and her husband. If she was a danger to herself and others, the firearms should've been removed immediately. Three months later, they have three months worth of incident free access to the guns to prove that she is NOT a threat.
Which brings me to my point. Registration is not required. Losing a constitutional right must have a more rigorous process to ensure abuse of the system is not an issue. If one is a danger to themself or others, they should be involuntarily committed. If they are proven to not be a danger or mentally incompetent, they shoud be released and no record forwarded to the government(s). If they are deemed a threat, prior to being released, an emergency ex parte hearing should be convened and a judicial order entered against the person. A full hearing can be scheduled to make the emergency order permanent. Upon issuing the EEP order, law enforcement should be REQUIRED to conduct a threat assessment prior to the person's release. That would include any lethal weapons, not just guns. Yes, access to control over a vehicle should be included.
Coming by on a non-warrant knock & talk three months later, just flat doesn't cut it. Simply put, out rights are much more sacred than the casual CA system treats them. The ultimate issue is how the rest of the country is going to come to grips with this. CA and the NE corridor are usually just the beginning.
The hospital was not instrumental in voiding her constitutional rights, federal law is why she lost her right. You seem to be arguing against settled federal law. The question is not if she is a danger, it's that by being committed she's lost her right to own a firearm. Again, I'm not saying I agree with the law, but the SCOTUS has upheld the constitutionality of denying the right to own a firearm for a person that has been committed. In writing for the majority in District of Columbia v. Heller Justice Scalia wrote; "The Court has upheld gun control legislation including prohibitions on concealed weapons and possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill...(A)ssuming Heller is not otherwise disqualified from exercising Second Amendment rights" Federal law holds, very clearly, that being involuntarily committed to a mental hospital is a disqualifying event. Understand that what California is doing is not based on California law. It's based on federal law. Any state could chose to do it tomorrow without passing any law. And it's not new. Keep in mind that there are over 200,000 people, nationwide, that are now disqualified. Last year, about 2000 of them had their firearms confiscated. That's 1% of disqualified people (most are due to felon conviction and VPO's, not mental health issues) losing their firearms. And there is a process in place to get them back, if a judge rules they are legally able to own a firearm. Arguing that this case is the "start of confiscation" is tilting at windmills.
As gun owners and supporters of the 2nd, we need to pick our battles wisely and not buy into the demagoguery of the Beck's and Jones'.
Question 11.f. Adjudicated Mentally Defective:
A determination by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority that a person, as a result of marked subnormal intelligence, or mental illness, incompetency, condition, or disease: (1) is a danger to himself or to others; or (2) lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage his own affairs. This term shall include: (1) a finding of insanity by a court in a criminal case; and (2) Those persons found incompetent to stand trial or found not guilty by reason of lack of mental responsibility.
Committed to a Mental Institution: A formal commitment of a person to a mental institution by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority. The term includes a commitment to a mental institution involuntarily. The term includes commitment for mental defectiveness or mental illness. It also includes commitments for other reasons, such as for drug use. The term does not include a person in a mental institution for observation or a voluntary admission to a mental institution. Please also refer to Question 11.c. for the definition of a prohibited person.
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