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Sixth Circuit: Mental Health Gun Ban Is Unconstitutional
Breitbart ^ | 12/19/2014 | Awr Hawkins

Posted on 12/19/2014 7:51:53 AM PST by Rusty0604

On December 18, a three-judge panel of the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a ban on gun purchases for anyone who has been “adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to a mental institution” violated the Second Amendment rights of a Michigan man who was denied a gun purchase because of a mental institution commitment in 1986.

According to The Wall Street Journal, 73-year-old Clifford Charles Taylor “recently attempted to buy a gun but was denied on the grounds that he had been committed by a court to a mental institution in 1986 after emotional problems associated with a divorce.”

Judge Danny Boggs wrote the majority opinion for the panel: “The government’s interest in keeping firearms out of the hands of the mentally ill is not sufficiently related to depriving the mentally healthy, who had a distant episode of commitment, of their constitutional rights.”

(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: banglist; gunban; guncontrol; mentalhealth
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To: Rusty0604

1986 was a long time ago.
If modern psychiatry can’t get him past his issues over a divorce from that far back they may as well close-up shop.


21 posted on 12/19/2014 9:16:22 AM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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To: fatnotlazy

I tell them they are violating my privacy when they ask government spy questions. I have no problem lying to them in these situations either.


22 posted on 12/19/2014 9:30:12 AM PST by SaraJohnson
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To: fatnotlazy

Same thing here in Maine. Not only my primary but hospitals and specialists as well. Always answer in the negative with a shoulder shrug. No details.


23 posted on 12/19/2014 9:46:11 AM PST by davius (You can roll manure in powdered sugar but that don't make it a jelly doughnut.)
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To: Rusty0604

Hmmm. According to eric the red, you can’t be dis-criminated against now because you wear fringe. Who knew THAT was going on?


24 posted on 12/19/2014 9:59:42 AM PST by rktman (Served in the Navy to protect the rights of those that want to take some of mine away. Odd, eh?)
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To: Buckeye McFrog
1986 was a long time ago.

This is the result of a program the JUSTUS Dept started back around 2010. They have been mining the old databases of state and local law enforcement looking for any possible reason to deny a purchase.

As can be expected, many old hand written and typed records have errors and omissions and are not complete. This can easily occur during transfer of information from paper documents and microfiche to computer databases. Any areas with even the slightest doubt, an easily recognizable error or incongruence with verbiage or interpretation of a local, state or Federal law will trigger the reason to deny.

Even if you have passed background checks and purchased firearms lawfully for decades you will now find yourself being denied. JUSTUS will not research court records or follow-up with anyone, so the burden falls on you to clear your name. Your rights are denied without due process and you are considered a prohibited person.

The appeal process is very slow and intimidating and appears to be so by design. Since you are considered a prohibited person it also carries with it the potential, even though unlikely, that you will be subject to a friendly visit by the ATF. Should this happen, they can destroy any firearm and ammo they confiscate within 90 days. Unfortunately, even if the process goes smoothly it can easily take 12 to 15 months to clear your name. If you have to hire an attorney it can $2000 to $3000 or more, but many people would not know how to handle this on your own.

25 posted on 12/19/2014 10:01:15 AM PST by suijuris
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To: suijuris
Forgot to add. I read about this guy a couple of years ago when he first brought the suit. Apparently he had been purchasing firearms and passing background checks for decades before he was denied around 2010.
26 posted on 12/19/2014 10:05:13 AM PST by suijuris
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To: TexasFreeper2009

What the definition of a certified lunatic? And where is that clause in the 2nd Amendment?

Much of psychology is highly subjective and it’s results questionable in nature......not sure why people have such confidence it will not be used against them.


27 posted on 12/19/2014 10:16:17 AM PST by Red in Blue PA (Compared to obama, Jimmy Carter looks like Winston Churchill.)
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To: Himyar
Just because you are crazy doesn’t mean you are dangerous.

and just because someone has been treated for a bout of depression in the past does not mean he is unstable... i am surprised at this ruling, but pleasantly so...

28 posted on 12/19/2014 10:17:40 AM PST by latina4dubya (when i have money i buy books... if i have anything left, i buy 6-inch heels and a bottle of wine...)
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To: shalom aleichem

There should be ZERO gun laws. Yes Zero.

Anyone who commits a crime with a gun should be locked up for a long time or executed. If you are walking the streets and yet cannot be trusted to own a gun, they WHY are you walking the streets?


29 posted on 12/19/2014 10:17:56 AM PST by Red in Blue PA (Compared to obama, Jimmy Carter looks like Winston Churchill.)
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To: SaraJohnson; fatnotlazy

when i boys were younger, i would take them to the pediatrician for check-ups and the paperwork would include the question regarding firearms in the house... i would always answer, “i do not want anyone to know if i do not have firearms in my home, nor do i want anyone to know if i do have firearms in my home.”


30 posted on 12/19/2014 10:22:02 AM PST by latina4dubya (when i have money i buy books... if i have anything left, i buy 6-inch heels and a bottle of wine...)
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To: fatnotlazy
Lately, my primary doctor has been asking me a lot of questions he never would have before. First, it was whether I owned any firearms.

My firearms own me. At least that's what they've been telling me.

31 posted on 12/19/2014 10:29:40 AM PST by Starstruck (If my reply offends, you probably don't understand sarcasm or criticism...or do.)
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To: latina4dubya
You're right about depression. I would say we all are depressed in some form or another and at one time or another in our lives. Heck, with Obama as president and idiots in congress now, something would be wrong if we WEREN'T depressed.

Doesn't mean we are going to shoot up a school or a movie theater.

32 posted on 12/19/2014 10:37:25 AM PST by fatnotlazy
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To: latina4dubya

That was a great response!


33 posted on 12/19/2014 11:24:44 AM PST by SaraJohnson
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To: fatnotlazy
Before long we will have government entities declaring Christians, Tea Party members and other “enemies of the state” as mentally ill and ineligible to own firearms.

That is essentially the present condition nationwide.
The actually mentally impaired are the bureaucrats, who don't have to prove anything, ever.
Just issue a regulation and Voila" it's the law, constitutional or not.

34 posted on 12/19/2014 12:50:19 PM PST by publius911 (Formerly Publius6961)
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To: TexasFreeper2009
I could just see some left wing nut jobs saying anyone who believes in God is a nut.

That already happens every day.

35 posted on 12/19/2014 12:51:40 PM PST by publius911 (Formerly Publius6961)
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To: Red in Blue PA
What the definition of a certified lunatic? And where is that clause in the 2nd Amendment?

In the same chapter that says that any illiterate bastard of a certain age and a pulse can be elected to Congress and the Senate...

36 posted on 12/19/2014 12:57:22 PM PST by publius911 (Formerly Publius6961)
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To: Red in Blue PA
Well obviously no right is absolute.

A prisoner in jail has no right to a gun for instance.

The question is, what limits are constitutional, no whether their should be any.

37 posted on 12/19/2014 1:22:36 PM PST by TexasFreeper2009 (Obama lied .. the economy died.)
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To: Rusty0604
Judge Danny Boggs wrote the majority opinion for the panel: “The government’s interest in keeping firearms out of the hands of the mentally ill is not sufficiently related to depriving the mentally healthy, who had a distant episode of commitment, of their constitutional rights.”

Agreed. Apparently the mental health professionals felt he wasn't a danger to the public because they let him out on the streets again. I can see not letting someone buy WHILE they're under an adjudication of mental illness, but not far into the future.

38 posted on 12/19/2014 7:39:28 PM PST by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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