Posted on 12/28/2017 10:19:02 AM PST by JP1201
A federal court last week held that an involuntary emergency treatment of a Pennsylvania man for less than 24 hours did not trigger a lifetime ban on firearms.
Deciding in the case of Alton Franklin, the U.S. District Court held that his brief history of mental illness reported by the state did not square against federal gun prohibitions on those who have been committed to a mental institution.
According to court documents, in 2002 Franklin appeared at his local police station “needing to talk to someone” in the aftermath of a recent break-up with 20 lacerations on his arms he said he picked up as part of a drinking game with a friend. The officer he spoke to felt that Franklin posed a danger to himself or others and a county official completed a warrant that the man be involuntarily admitted to a mental health facility for up to 120 hours. However, Franklin only remained hospitalized for less than 24 hours before he was released.
Since then, he has not been the subject of a mental health order and went on to complete a bachelor’s degree, earn a paralegal certification and work as a corrections officer for the state of Kentucky. Nonetheless, in 2013 he was advised that he was a prohibited firearms possessor with an active file in the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System, stripping him of his gun rights, due to the time he spent in the hospital more than a decade previously.
Challenging the Pennsylvania record in a county court in 2015, a judge found in his favor, noting that he “no longer suffers from the mental health condition that was the basis of the original civil commitment,” and ordered his firearms rights under state law restored. Nonetheless, the ATF maintained Franklin was still prohibited from possessing firearms under the federal statute even while the state said he wasn’t. To this, the federal court took exception last week, saying he was never “adjudicated as a mental defective” or “committed to a mental institution” as it applied to federal law.
“The decision to submit Mr. Franklin to a 120-hour involuntary mental health examination was made by a police officer, an unspecified officer in the county administrator’s office, and a physician– not a court, board, or commission,” said U.S. District Judge Kim R. Gibson in his decision, enjoining the government from using the 2002 involuntary emergency treatment against him.
Attorney Joshua Prince, who represented Frankin, called the case a “monumental decision.”
In speaking with The Legal Intelligencer, Prince said the ruling speaks to the constitutionality of stripping a person of their gun rights without due process, and “now sets the foundation for challenging Pennsylvania’s state prohibition on those very grounds.”
That was changed here in Maine a few years ago. Before that some social worker or nurse could file, then it would be certified by doc and boom bye bye gun rights.
Prior to the 1960s, we would not have discussed the matter and ‘crazy joe’ would have taken off to the state mental facility (without his weapons) and spent his days there.
Good. No one's right to keep and bear arms should be permanently removed without due process. Social workers and other bureaucrats are NOT qualified to adjudicate due process, nor are they legally empowered to do so by our Constitution .
This is the loophole the gun grabbers hope to use against decent gun ownwers. Reason I quit going to the VA!!!
Trump should remove whatever barriers to gun ownership were buried in Obama’s ACA requirements of doctors to include on physician/patient information forms any questions on gun ownership!
I only go to the VA for physical problems, broken bones, bursitis, hearing aids.
I would not even consider a mental health visit until all the leftists that work there are either fired or dead.
That’s not going to happen in the rest of my lifetime or yours.
If I ever think I need to talk to a shrink, I will just talk to my dogs, at least they really care about me.
The problem is in the heart, not the brain.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.