I have always been under the impression that you could not buy a gun if you were ever in a mental hospital. I was held in a mental hospital twice in my late teens/early twenties. It was never court ordered, both times my mom just took me there and they held me. Both times were for less then a week, but may have been for more then 72 hours. I don’t think either time I had any mental illnesses, but that is probably irrelevant.
I am a college graduate and have a job. I would like to have a gun in case of home invasion. I don’t plan on getting a CCP.
I believe I would be legally able to own a gun, but I am worried about what the definition of “Involuntary Commitment” is. I was held in the hospital against my will, but there was never a court involved as far as I know. I assume this was for observation. I don’t think this was the legal definition of Involuntary Commitment.
I live in Ohio btw, and am more worried about the consequences of owning an illegal gun, because from what I’ve read and people I’ve talked to, I would pass a background check.
In your case, which seems somewhat complicated, I would send a certified letter to the BATF asking them if you are a prohibited person or not based on your circumstances. I would really be wary of guessing wrong on this based on anything you find online, or even worse “a cop said” situations. The BATF isn’t a boogeyman, and they IME will respond factually to honest requests for advice of this sort. Make sure if they send you a letter approving your condition you take it with you to buy your gun, so no one can claim you were trying to be deceptive if some other bureaucratic wrinkle arises.
Note that even if the BATF gives you a green flag, your State may have other restrictions.
In Ohio, as with many other states, the mental health restriction has to do with whether a court finds you to be incompetent at present, not whether you have ever had mental health issues in the past.
The federal law which requires states to submit mental health records to an FBI database doesn’t go into effect until 2018, and in any case, those would be court records, not private medical records.
I do understand the OP’s concern. In Ohio, you do not need a permit to purchase or posses a gun, only to carry a concealed one. Since it doesn’t sound like a court ever ordered you to be confined or ruled that you were mentally incompetent, I don;t think there’s a problem. However, it might be worth consulting a local attorney who could help you obtain a more official answer. Another way to find out For sure is to apply for a carry permit, since that would subject you to the type of federal and state scrutiny you are concerned about.
This is what I am concerned about. I think to be ‘committed’ to a mental institution would require a court order. But, I don’t want to buy a gun and then years down to road something happens that causes someone to research my record again and I end up going to jail for a year for unlawful possession of a gun.
I just thought I’d post the relevant part, since some people don’t like opening .pdf files, and that one took longer than normal to download.
IANAL, but this is how I interpret it: The first part seems to require a ‘lawful authority’ to have been ‘a danger’ or ‘incompetent’. If I am reading your OP correctly, this didn’t happen. The second part asks if you’ve ever been committed. Like you, I don’t know what the definition of that is. Your best bet would be to talk with an attorney.
Just a bit of advice, from someone who’s helped out a person in a similar circumstance.
It doesn’t matter what an attorney says about the law, it matters what the BATF says. The BATF will tell you for absolutely free if you are their defined “prohibited person.” An attorney will tell you for $$$ if they believe you are a prohibited person.
