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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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1 posted on 12/19/2014 7:51:53 AM PST by Rusty0604
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To: Rusty0604

Immediately comes to mind this lyric:

Mama, he’s crazy, crazy over me
And in my life is where he says
He always wants to be


2 posted on 12/19/2014 7:58:16 AM PST by TomGuy
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To: Rusty0604
This will piz off the anti-gun nuts

On the one hand, no one wants the homicidal types to have firearms, but on the other hand, a blanket prohibition is wrong. 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. This was a major overstep of authority and the Sixth Circuit ruling is correct.

3 posted on 12/19/2014 7:58:23 AM PST by fatnotlazy
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To: fatnotlazy

This actually could work in favor of gun haters. Back ground checks don’t even work! We need more restrictions.


4 posted on 12/19/2014 8:05:06 AM PST by Tenacious 1 (POPOF. President Of Pants On Fire.)
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To: fatnotlazy

There has been speculation that there would be gun grabbing using the medical records of anyone that has been treated for depression or any mental problem. That could tend to prevent people from getting help when they need it.


5 posted on 12/19/2014 8:09:48 AM PST by Rusty0604
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To: Rusty0604

Good decision.


6 posted on 12/19/2014 8:12:06 AM PST by wolfman23601
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To: Rusty0604

um... I am all for the 2nd amendment.. but even I have no issue with restricting access to guns to certified lunatics.

Of course ... then that brings up the issue of who gets to decide who’s a lunatic...

hm.. on second thought, maybe this is a good decision. I could just see some left wing nut jobs saying anyone who believes in God is a nut.


7 posted on 12/19/2014 8:16:17 AM PST by TexasFreeper2009 (Obama lied .. the economy died.)
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To: Rusty0604

Just because you are crazy doesn’t mean you are dangerous.


8 posted on 12/19/2014 8:18:38 AM PST by Himyar (Sessions: the only real man in D.C.)
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To: Himyar

and you still may need home protection.

Mental illness has nothing to do with right to bear arms.

Now if someone commits a gun crime, prosecute them, and then ban their right to carry, take away their freedom, fine them, etc.


9 posted on 12/19/2014 8:22:49 AM PST by shalom aleichem
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To: TexasFreeper2009
but even I have no issue with restricting access to guns to certified lunatics.

This was the phuzzy logic used to get us to accept background checks back in the 80's, which was a huge mistake in the first place. The 2A does NOT say, "shall not be infringed, as long as you have a background check.". Homicidal lunatics have ALWAYS had access to firearms. The point is that they are few and far between, and us lawful, non-homicidal maniacs must have access to them to protect ourselves and loved ones from the homicidal maniacs. No background checks required. The 2nd Amendment is being destroyed, and us gun owners are the main reason why - we accept BS arguments and give up a little freedom at a time in the name of little, ineffective security. We deserve neither and will lose both.

10 posted on 12/19/2014 8:23:54 AM PST by dware ("White Privilege" stems from one's ability to lace up work boots and read a work schedule)
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To: Rusty0604

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. Last appointment, he asked if I was “feeling blue” or something. I thought at first it was just innocent chatter, but now I suspect doctors are being required to gather information for the feds who intend to use that information for nefarious purposes...like maybe declaring certain “undesirables” as mentally ill and in need of institutionalization.


11 posted on 12/19/2014 8:27:54 AM PST by fatnotlazy
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To: fatnotlazy

President Obama is using the national debate over gun violence to push for further action on his health care law, including insisting on the kind of mental health coverage states must provide under their Medicaid programs. Mr. Obama, unveiling his gun proposals Wednesday barely a month after the deadly school shooting in Newtown, Conn., will make it clear that his health law, known as the Affordable Care Act, allows doctors to ask patients whether they have guns in their homes, and will tell them they are able to report any threats of violence they hear to police. - See more at: http://www.teaparty.org/obama-asks-doctors-to-help-deal-with-guns-18738/#sthash.3qVutu0Q.dpuf


12 posted on 12/19/2014 8:46:37 AM PST by Rusty0604
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To: fatnotlazy

Ruh Roh! I guess the old nut case denial thingy in the intergalactic background checks is gonna be in trouble. At least until a higher court overturns the 6th District. Then again, according to the nannie bloomers types, just the desire to possess a firearm is proof that some of us are nut cases. Not as nutty as someone who is terrified of inanimate objects, but nut cases just the same. Often make me wonder if any of the bloomers know the meaning of infringed? (of course we probably all know or have seen folks that we would prefer not to have a firearm.) ;>}


13 posted on 12/19/2014 8:50:13 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: Rusty0604

...”the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be Infringed ...” ( anyone who trusts corruptoid-megalomanial politicians and psychiatrists with their life and liberty is certifiably nutz!)


14 posted on 12/19/2014 8:51:31 AM PST by faithhopecharity ((Brilliant, Profound Tag Line Goes Here, just as soon as I can think of one..))
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To: Rusty0604
Huh? Is that why I keep getting denied the opportunity to purchase a weapon?


15 posted on 12/19/2014 8:52:40 AM PST by spel_grammer_an_punct_polise (Why does every totalitarian, political hack think that he knows how to run my life better than I do?)
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To: TomGuy

The fellow in this case had a ‘distant episode’ in 1986 related to a divorce. Apparently he’s in good health now and maybe his treatment years ago helped him to get healthy. So the judges were correct in that this was an overreach by government gun grabbers.

However, there are some brain diseases that are clinically diagnosable by an MD Psychiatrist, not a licensed psychologist using a DSM IV manual (no disrespect intended to clinical psychologists but very few of you carry the weight, legal liability and responsibility that a fully board certified MD Psychiatrist does).

One of the ***clinical*** brain diseases that are frequently involved in insane killings is Bipolar Disorder (BP) and I emphasize that it is a clinical disease similar and related to epilepsy where uncontrolled body movements take over in episodes of insanity. I emphasize this is a ***clinical*** diagnosable disease because many if us know someone who has frequent mood swings and perhaps related severe migraines which symptoms sometimes appear to be BP but are not. A person with BP loses all sense of themselves going into a coma like state or appearing to behave as a wild vicious animal with frothing at the mouth, constricted pupils that appear cold and dead-like often with unblinking eyelids and a glancing and staring upwards for many minutes.

A person with BP who is in an episode of BP does not know who they are or where they are. The episodes can last from about 30 minutes to 2 hours and once over the BP person often has no memory of what happened in the episode. Often they are left sweating with clammy skin and often crying for help. Then they return to normal as if nothing happened while the people around then are left trembling and traumatized.

When we read in the papers of a mass or inexplicable killing, odds are there is a person with BP involved. And the BP person often turns the gun on themselves because to them the pain is so severe that blowing one’s brains out is relief.

These diseases are treatable but must be treated and diagnosed by a doctor. Doctors should have the power to institutionalize these patients for the purpose of treating and controlling these disorder. There are less severe forms of BP that do not require institutionalization. An example is Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones who suffers from BP II. She is aware of her condition and can feel when it’s coming on. She locks herself in her room and waits for it to pass. She has done a great service to make the public aware of the nature of these diseases.

The danger to our rights with respect to gun control is that gun grabbers/disarmers will use the episodes of BP persons to justify a government overreach as if disarming the population will solve problems associated with such brain diseases.

The doctors are in a bind because on the one hand they must respect the patient-doctor relationship and on the other hand they must be concerned for public safety. Gun grabbers are always urging doctors to report on all disclosed guns in the home or attitudes towards guns even for normal patients and children! This is wrong!

One suggestion to these dilemmas is for awareness of the condition to be broadcast widely so that persons with the disease will seek treatment without suffering social stigma. Most persons with these degenerative brain diseases are very cooperative about getting treatment and society should not stigmatize them for getting help. Most such persons can live normal productive lives when under care of a doctor. A very few are so far gone that they must be institutionalized.

If the disease progresses and the person is aware of its progression, they will know that they can be a danger to society and to themselves. They could be encouraged to sign voluntarily a waiver of their gun rights and to assign responsibility for decision making regarding their hospitalization or institutionalization.

These diseases are the worst because during an episode the person you think you know and love is not there. They have literally lost it. Whereas with cancer or heart disease, we still have the person in our lives, we can make the journey with them holding their hand and they holding ours; not so with severe brain diseases.

Be aware of this category of disease! Don’t let the gun grabbers generalize it to all of society to take away our unalienable Rights!


16 posted on 12/19/2014 8:54:07 AM PST by Hostage (ARTICLE V)
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To: rktman

Maybe they don’t know the difference between “fringed” and “infringed”. Of course liberals don’t care about definitions, they just change them.


17 posted on 12/19/2014 8:56:01 AM PST by Rusty0604
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To: Hostage

I have a son with BP, and although he does well on his medication, I would not want him to own a gun. That is a lot different than the normal human being that has a bout of depression or anxiety due to some temporary issues. But the gun grabbers would argue against that because they just want to grab everyone’s guns.


18 posted on 12/19/2014 9:00:50 AM PST by Rusty0604
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To: Rusty0604

Exactly. You got it. The chore is to make as many people as aware as possible of the distinction you just made.


19 posted on 12/19/2014 9:02:45 AM PST by Hostage (ARTICLE V)
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To: Rusty0604

“Allows doctors to ask”

I don’t think the doctors are being “allowed” — they are being forced.


20 posted on 12/19/2014 9:03:15 AM PST by fatnotlazy
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