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A marksman in Iraq; No gun permit in Omaha
Omaha World-Herald ^ | Thursday March 5, 2009 | KEVIN COLE

Posted on 03/05/2009 5:12:49 AM PST by PurpleMan

Sgt. Tim Mechaley trained fellow Marines to fire .50-caliber machine guns. He qualified as a marksman....

Yet, when Mechaley sought to buy a 9-mm Ruger pistol for protection at his midtown apartment, the Omaha Police Department rejected his application for a gun permit.

Mechaley, 32, has received counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder related to his service in Iraq. While completing an application for a gun permit, he responded "yes" to a question that asked whether he was being treated for a mental disorder.

"I circled yes because I wanted to be completely honest," he said.

As explanation, he wrote "PTSD from Iraq Marine combat veteran" on the form.

Mechaley's application on Jan. 10 was rejected, he was told, because of that answer.

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


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; US: Nebraska; War on Terror
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Great.

The civilian population and government continuing to stigmatize active duty and fromer military.

1 posted on 03/05/2009 5:12:49 AM PST by PurpleMan
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To: PurpleMan
Honest, law-abiding citizens are disarmed.

The burglars who will arrive at this man's house later on will be armed, simply because they are neither honest nor law-abiding. Great system, eh?

2 posted on 03/05/2009 5:14:41 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (American Revolution II -- overdue)
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To: ClearCase_guy

That is why he should have lied.


3 posted on 03/05/2009 5:15:47 AM PST by omega4179 (I hope he fails)
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To: PurpleMan

This is discrimination based on a service connected Disability.


4 posted on 03/05/2009 5:19:33 AM PST by Obamageddon (Birth certificate and college transcripts will be required for Federal employment, Mr. Soetero)
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To: PurpleMan
According to the article, his application was approved upon appeal, so he now has his gun permit.

Still, he had to miss a day of work to present his case....

5 posted on 03/05/2009 5:20:26 AM PST by dirtbiker (Obama is America's first Affirmative Action president....)
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To: ClearCase_guy

With a dishonest system, you unfortunately have to be dishonest yourself...otherwise, you lose...every time.
As contrary to our old American ways it is, in this new modern “enlightened era”, he probably should have just lied and forgot about it. I mean, most of our “new govt. officials” forgot their taxes and all.....


6 posted on 03/05/2009 5:23:14 AM PST by lgjhn23
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To: Obamageddon

“Disability”???

What “Disability”?? For the love of God!! He received counselling. “Receive counselling and you’re a psycho.”

This is just the stigmatization I was talking about and what Army leadership is trying to overcome.

God save them.


7 posted on 03/05/2009 5:23:50 AM PST by PurpleMan
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To: PurpleMan

This is TOTAL BS*! I think it’s because the new administration sees him as a threat. Here is my suggestion to this guy, go out and buy a couple of 30.06’s with a scope and keep up your practicing. Then get some shotguns for home protection....nothing is more menacing than the sound of a pump action SG!!

The reason I say this is BS, in the state of NJ you are finger printed, background checked in order to get a firearms ID card. My dad was hospitalized for a mental disorder years ago. All he had to do was get a statement from a psychiatrist and then wait. The thing that ticks me off, is my dad got his ID card in 5 weeks where mine took 8...WTF?

*Unless the psychiatrist said this guy was “whacked” that could be the only other reason. BTW, a pistol is fun to shoot, but I honestly think a shot gun is a GREAT alternative for home protection. Remember, a shotgun 15 yards and closer (in a confined space) could serious hurt/kill 3-4 people in one shot!


8 posted on 03/05/2009 5:24:32 AM PST by mikelets456
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To: omega4179

“That is why he should have lied.”

The end does NOT justify the means. THAT is a morally conservative PRINCIPLE!

People need to work together to get the law changed. it CAN be done and, in the end, will be better for many more people.


9 posted on 03/05/2009 5:25:16 AM PST by SumProVita (Cogito, ergo...Sum Pro Vita. (Modified DeCartes))
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To: PurpleMan

The right to keep and bear arms does not really exist in this country. And there is only one way to get it back...


10 posted on 03/05/2009 5:27:35 AM PST by umbra43
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To: PurpleMan
"He qualified as a marksman...

Marksman is the lowest of three scoring categories in the Marine Corps.

The article says he 'trained' fellow Marines to fire .50-caliber machine guns. I reckon they mean he showed guys how to load the Ma Deuce.

Anyway...

11 posted on 03/05/2009 5:28:42 AM PST by VaBthang4 ("He Who Watches Over Israel Will Neither Slumber Nor Sleep")
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To: PurpleMan; All

Usual nonsense. Any “mental illness” equates to being a person that will go postal. In truth, those that seek medical care are the least likely to go off the deep end because they are “sane” enough to recognize they have problems. It is the ones that refuse treatment, when needed, that are the sometimes potential power kegs. They self medicate themselves with alchohol or even illegal drugs, or even placebo “natural” alternatives.

No one should ever be denied a firearms permit unless they have been adjudicated mentally incompetent/dangerous by a court of law.


12 posted on 03/05/2009 5:30:25 AM PST by Sola Veritas (Trying to speak truth - not always with the best grammar or spelling)
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To: mikelets456

“This is TOTAL BS*! I think it’s because the new administration sees him as a threat.”

No. THIS is TOTAL BS*!

It was the city of Omaha that denied it. If you think that BHO is “reaching” is all the way to this little metropolis in fly-over USA, you aughta sell that stuff your a-smoking.


13 posted on 03/05/2009 5:31:46 AM PST by PurpleMan
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To: mikelets456

A shotgun with a relatively short barrel (18”, not an SBR) and a completely open choke will still only spread about an inch a yard with buckshot.

So at the maximum distance you’d possibly be using it in your home, you’d still have all the shot center mass.

From typical across the room distances, the spread would fit between two shirt buttons. Shotguns are great, but you still have to aim them (if they really did “paint a wall”, they’d be useless).

Though a pistol will never have power comparable to a rifle or shotgun, it does have the unique characteristic of being the only tool you can keep trained on a violent felon who’s just invaded your home while you dial a phone with the other hand. It will also be must lighter in the agonizingly long amount of time the police take to arrive.


14 posted on 03/05/2009 5:32:52 AM PST by BobbyT
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To: PurpleMan
I think this is also part of the left's attempt to define deviance down on the one hand and to declare normal people deviants on the other hand. If you are depressed because some of your friends died in Iraq and you want to talk to a counselor, the left wants to brand you "mentally ill" for life. The fact is you are having a normal reaction to a difficult situation and you are not crazy.

On the other hand, if you are always angry and threatening people and talk about your fantasies about wanting to kill everyone because the voices in your head tell you to or whatever (the Virginia Tech killer), according to the liberals it is wrong to "profile" such a person as potentially dangerous and we are supposed to treat his threats as cherished freedom of expression. So the left empowers the real deviants and madmen while stigmatizing normal people.

15 posted on 03/05/2009 5:35:11 AM PST by Wilhelm Tell (True or False? This is not a tag line.)
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To: SumProVita
The end does NOT justify the means. THAT is a morally conservative PRINCIPLE!

People need to work together to get the law changed. it CAN be done and, in the end, will be better for many more people.

Sorry my friend, when the government comes to my house and asks if I own any guns and then demands I give them up, I too will lie.

You live with your conscience, I'll live with mine.

16 posted on 03/05/2009 5:35:17 AM PST by Lurking in Kansas (Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down their level, then beat you with experience.)
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To: Sola Veritas; All

New thought...

BTW: This guy said he was honest and wrote, “PTSD from Iraq Marine combat veteran”

PTSD (Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder) is a diagnosed disorder. PTS (Post-Traumatic-Stress)is just that - stress.

Anyone in combat is affected by the stress of combat but this guy said he had a medical/psychiatric “disorder” which carries with it a LOT of official baggage.

Maybe, just maybe, the police were correct.


17 posted on 03/05/2009 5:39:50 AM PST by PurpleMan
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To: PurpleMan

The pitfalls of honesty in Amerika.

Might this be why we have nothing but dishonest politicians.


18 posted on 03/05/2009 5:41:49 AM PST by chainsaw (If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free! -- P.J..)
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To: Lurking in Kansas

It’s your choice. I’m a Christian and my conscience has to conform to some pretty high principles. ;-)


19 posted on 03/05/2009 5:45:26 AM PST by SumProVita (Cogito, ergo...Sum Pro Vita. (Modified DeCartes))
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To: PurpleMan

Omaha has had handgun registration since the 1880’s. That is right — the late 1800’s. It is majority Demoncratic area with a rabidly anti-gun Mayor and Police Chief. I am not the least bit suprised by this article.


20 posted on 03/05/2009 5:53:21 AM PST by jim_trent
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