# If they started giving psychological tests before allowing a gun purchase, would you pass? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 22, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-started-giving-psychological-tests-before-allowing-a-gun-purchase-would-you-pass/644804 "2012-12-22T01:09:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-started-giving-psychological-tests-before-allowing-a-gun-purchase-would-you-pass/644804/1 "2012-12-22T01:09:01Z")
You get to define for yourself what you think might make you eligible/ineligible. I quit a good-paying job to move across country and go back to school, so I’m definitely crazy. On a more serious note, I had one few-month experience with depression when I was in my mid-twenties, though I didn’t seek any treatment (foolishly). And I’ve been prescribed anti-depressants for anxiety twice, most recently after my first husband died in 2009. So I might be ineligible if the standard is just “have been prescribed psychiatric medications.” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-started-giving-psychological-tests-before-allowing-a-gun-purchase-would-you-pass/644804/2 "2012-12-22T01:14:47Z")
I teach, so no. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-started-giving-psychological-tests-before-allowing-a-gun-purchase-would-you-pass/644804/3 "2012-12-22T01:28:24Z")
Been there. Done that. Fooled em. Passed. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-started-giving-psychological-tests-before-allowing-a-gun-purchase-would-you-pass/644804/4 "2012-12-22T01:32:00Z")
Oh crap, they’ll keep it simple and use Myers-Briggs with all the cultural bigotry that goes with it, and ENTJs will be shooting down unarmed INTJs like rabbits. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-started-giving-psychological-tests-before-allowing-a-gun-purchase-would-you-pass/644804/5 "2012-12-22T01:33:43Z")
I’d probably pass, but then again, Lanza’s mom probably would have, too… ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-started-giving-psychological-tests-before-allowing-a-gun-purchase-would-you-pass/644804/6 "2012-12-22T01:38:37Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Oh crap, they’ll keep it simple and use Myers-Briggs with all the cultural bigotry that goes with it, and ENTJs will be shooting down unarmed INTJs like rabbits. Do I want to know how INTPs will fare? ---
**Author:** ![Crime\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e495f1/32.png) [@Crime\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crime_Scene)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-started-giving-psychological-tests-before-allowing-a-gun-purchase-would-you-pass/644804/7 "2012-12-22T01:42:44Z")
Just out of curiosity, as related to the psychological angle, has it been confirmed his mother was a ‘prepper?’ ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-started-giving-psychological-tests-before-allowing-a-gun-purchase-would-you-pass/644804/8 "2012-12-22T06:10:33Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Been there. Done that. Fooled em. Passed. Preach it. I was suicidal, joined the army as an alternative, said what I thought the psych eval guys wanted to hear and got a top secret clearance. Should I have been given access to what I was able to put my hands to? Well, maybe yes, as I ended up doing no evil. But then again, I was really screwed up at the time. Anything could have happened. We will progress greatly as a society when we realize crazy does not equal stupid…it usually equates with horribly clever. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-started-giving-psychological-tests-before-allowing-a-gun-purchase-would-you-pass/644804/9 "2012-12-22T06:23:26Z")
I could pass any test they gave me. But of course they’d never know the “real me.” ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-started-giving-psychological-tests-before-allowing-a-gun-purchase-would-you-pass/644804/10 "2012-12-22T06:33:53Z")
I think I could pass but I was on some anti-anxiety medicine in college for a little while, and went through counseling for a few months as well. It wasn’t related to suicidal thoughts or wanting to do any harm though. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-started-giving-psychological-tests-before-allowing-a-gun-purchase-would-you-pass/644804/11 "2012-12-22T07:37:02Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Oh crap, they’ll keep it simple and use Myers-Briggs with all the cultural bigotry that goes with it, and ENTJs will be shooting down unarmed INTJs like rabbits. Kinda what I’d be afraid of. I don’t like to lie on things that would be private, and I wouldn’t want to avoid psychiatric help because I want to own a firearm. > [@jsgoddess](#): > > Do I want to know how INTPs will fare? They’d all be given guns to tinker with and be made to calculate load data for the best velocity/stopping power combinations. All in a huge collaborative spreadsheet with many Star Trek and Doctor Who references salted within. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-started-giving-psychological-tests-before-allowing-a-gun-purchase-would-you-pass/644804/12 "2012-12-22T13:30:12Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > …and I wouldn’t want to avoid psychiatric help because I want to own a firearm. Ain’t that some irony? People who have the wherewithall to say, “I’m sick, think I’ll see a shrink or two and get that under control.” are the ones who get discriminated against. The other crazies who actively avoid treatment keep their ability to work the system. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-started-giving-psychological-tests-before-allowing-a-gun-purchase-would-you-pass/644804/13 "2012-12-22T13:44:32Z")
Wouldn’t matter as I’d be many times more likely to buy an enema kit than a gun. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-started-giving-psychological-tests-before-allowing-a-gun-purchase-would-you-pass/644804/14 "2012-12-22T16:07:29Z")
I’m on antidepressants. Would that disqualify me? I could probably fake my way through a written test. If I had to have a face-to-face with a trained psychologist, she could probably see through me. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-started-giving-psychological-tests-before-allowing-a-gun-purchase-would-you-pass/644804/15 "2012-12-22T19:06:05Z")
I’ve passed polygraphs so sure no problem. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-started-giving-psychological-tests-before-allowing-a-gun-purchase-would-you-pass/644804/16 "2012-12-22T19:07:54Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Wouldn’t matter as I’d be many times more likely to buy an enema kit than a gun. all well and good, just so long as you don’t get the two mixed up 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-started-giving-psychological-tests-before-allowing-a-gun-purchase-would-you-pass/644804/17 "2012-12-22T20:47:20Z")
Hell no - I get pavement-rage, so arming me isn’t a good idea! ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-started-giving-psychological-tests-before-allowing-a-gun-purchase-would-you-pass/644804/18 "2012-12-22T20:50:42Z")
Hell to the naw. But that’s okay. As an INTP, I can build my own gun. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-started-giving-psychological-tests-before-allowing-a-gun-purchase-would-you-pass/644804/19 "2012-12-22T20:51:06Z")
This is a species of Catch-22: applying for ownership of a firearm is a disqualifier. Anyone who responds “Hell, no, why would I need a fricken gun?” gets one.