Man has Firearms Wrongly Confiscated
Kevin Felts 07.31.17
Imagine sitting in your living room watching TV, when the police show up with an order saying you have to turn over your firearms because you are “mentally defective.”
The problem is, you have never diagnosed with a mental illness, and, it was a case of mistaken identity.
In an effort to reduce gun violence, various states passed laws designed to keep guns out of the hands of people who have a mental illness. In this example, it was the New York SAFE Act that resulted in the confiscation of firearms from an innocent person.
The SAFE Act states,
The NY SAFE Act is designed to remove firearms from those who seek to do harm to themselves or others.
This means keeping the minority of individuals with serious mental illness who may be dangerous away from access to firearms.
New York Upstate published an article of what happens when there is a case of mistaken identity.
Deputies confiscate a CNY veteran’s guns. They were wrong. What happened?
TABERG, NY – Don Hall was sitting in his living room watching TV with his girlfriend about 9:30 p.m. earlier this year when he was startled by flashing police car lights in his driveway.
Hall met the Oneida County sheriff’s deputies in the driveway, worried that they were bringing bad news about a family member.
Instead, the deputies produced an official document demanding that Hall, a 70-year-old Vietnam veteran who is a retired pipefitter, turn over his guns to them on the spot. On the document Hall said he was described as “mentally defective.”
Mr. Hall was eventually able to convince a judge this was a case of mistaken identity and he was able to get his property back.
Opinion
Examples like this prevent people who may have a mental illness from seeking help. In all honesty, who wants to be put on a list because they are seeking help?
- Option A: Go to a doctor, be honest, seek help, have your information shared with government agencies, be put on a list, denied the right to buy a firearm and have your firearms confiscated.
- Option B: Keep your mouth shut and protect your privacy.
In an effort to prevent firearm violence, the government is victimizing innocent people whose only crime is seeking help.
There has to be a better way to reduce firearm violence, and not make people afraid to go to the doctor.
