When I was 16 I was institutionalized against my will by my father. No one else was involved and I was just wondering if now that I am 23 this would prevent me from being able to purchase a handgun in Virginia.
Quite likely not. According to ATF Form 4473 under the GCA a person “who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution” is a prohibited person, but as I understand it actual committal requires a court order.
You could also ask the BATFE. They have a decent site at atf.gov. Don’t remind them that they’re not really a TLA; they hate that. :rolleyes:
Not sure, since you were a minor. Your best bet is to contact a lawyer in your state who is familiar with gun laws.
I would also ask this question on a forum for Virginia gun owners, and then ask for recommendations on a lawyer.
IANAL
As a minor, your commitment may have technically been voluntary if your father signed you in as a “volunteer” rather than the hospital committing you. As such that wouldn’t preclude owing a firearm.
I believe only the state can commit, ie involuntarily make someone stay, or validate someone else’s request to place someone in a mental-health facility outside of that required for emergency stabilization.
nope, all it takes is for the person trying to commit you to be able to convince the doctor that is on call at the time. They do not have to get a court order or a police man or anything else to sign off on it, my ex PAID a doctor 200 to put me away for a week, I was sick with the flu and running a high fever and had said “I don’t want to feel like this anymore” (as in, I want to get better) two hundred bucks and a whispered conversation with the ER doctor later and I was “Suicidal”.
Ex would come to the lockdown ward and taunt me and even the STAFF were saying HE was the one who should have been in there, but they were all just orderlies.
At no time during that week did I ever see a doctor or a therapist or “official” person at any time even after being attacked by a violent patient and receiving a head wound…it was treated by an orderly. I saw no official person despite repeated requests…including my demands to see the hospital advocate. (all hospitals are supposed to have someone on staff to mediate and/or acquire legal assistance for patients who feel their rights are violated or their health compromised .they had a huge ass poster providing that information right next to the nurses desk spelling it out. )
Someone please tell me how any of this would have been beneficial had I actually been suicidal instead of just sick with the flu and married to a psychopath? (and he WAS eventually diagnosed as a psychopath…he wasn’t that smart. I went into therapy, he was afraid to let me talk to anyone without him present and a willingly let him attend sessions with me once I found a therapist who was sharp and on the ball. By attending with he also fell under the legal aspect of being in therapy and she diagnosed him psychopath and notified the authorities.)
As for the gun thing…I think it depends on the state. I had a stun gun while living in Indiana that the cops had no problem with me having it. When we moved to upstate NY my husband got abusive (This was pre hospital event)and I called the cops and they asked if we had any weapons in the house, I told them my stun gun and they took it away. I had not used it, in fact the battery was dead, I had to hunt for it through various drawers to find it.
I’m back in Indiana and while I don’t have a gun I have a healthy arsenal of knives, polearms , a pistol crossbow (hey, I like to collect sharp pointy weapons) and a new stun gun. (minus the husband, I am now a widow) the cop in the neighborhood has visited and admired my collection and even asked to play with throwing the spears at the target set up in my yard.
you don’t state what you were committed for, this too may factor in whether or not you can get cleared for a gun.
I’m sorry for your ordeal. Nonetheless, as you say, the laws do exist.
The $200 bribe to the ER doctor, if I’m reading you correctly, sounds unlikely.
sidhechaos, your rambling post doesn’t address the OP’s question at all. The law requires that a person to be “committed” to an institution. Having been in an institution at one time does not necessarily meet that standard.
I don’t think having a primary care giver putting their dependent into an institution is the same as being committed.
I am now lawyer, but, “committing” does take away some of your civil rights. So, in order for that to happen their has to be a legal reason. VA has most legal records online so you can search for your name from your district or county. If what he did was an actual “committing” then there should be a paper trail.
Committing is usually done with there is imminent danger of harm.
I wondered the same thing a while back, and happened to have saved this link to a 1997 document from ATF describing the definitions for the prohibition you’re asking about. Bolding mine. IANAL but it seems to me like you would not meet the definition.
“Adjudicated as a mental defective. (a) A determination by a
court, board, commission, or other lawful authority that a person,
as a result of marked subnormal intelligence, or mental illness,
incompetency, condition, or disease:
(1) Is a danger to himself or to others; or
(2) Lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage his own
affairs.
(b) The term shall include a finding of insanity by a court in a
criminal case.
Committed to a mental institution. A formal commitment of a
person to a mental institution by a court, board, commission, or
other legal authority. The term includes a commitment to a mental
institution involuntarily. The term includes a commitment for mental
defectiveness or mental illness. It also includes commitments for
other reasons, such as for drug use. The term does not include a
person in a mental institution for observation or a voluntary
admission to a mental institution.”
Legal advice is best suited to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator