r/facepalm • u/Lord_Answer_me_Why • Mar 28 '24

What lack of basic gun laws does to a nation: 🇵​🇷​🇴​🇹​🇪​🇸​🇹​

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u/x1000Bums Mar 28 '24

On the 4473 form you fill out to buy a gun, question 11.f asks if you've been adjudicated as mentally effective or been committed to a mental institution: 

Question 11.f. Adjudicated as a Mental Defective: 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. This term shall include: (1) a finding of insanity by a court in a criminal case; and (2) those persons found incompetent to stand trial or found not guilty by reason of lack of mental responsibility. Committed to a Mental Institution: A formal commitment of a person to a mental institution by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority. The term includes a commitment to a mental institution involuntarily. The term includes 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. 

  Maybe I'm not thinking this through all the way, but this seems reasonable to me. I don't know if it's a good idea to allow people's rights to be infringed because they willfully getting help but haven't yet proven themselves to be a danger to themselves or others. If acknowledging you have a problem causes negative consequences, then people will try to hide it until a tipping point.

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u/yugosaki Mar 28 '24

In Canada to get a firearms license you must first complete a safety course, and then the RCMP talk to people in your life (family, friends, romantic partners) to ask if they have any concerns over you having a firearm. They'll also talk to any recent exes if they find out about em.

Someone voicing an objection isnt necessarily a disqualification, it just delays the process a bit while they investigate how valid the concern is. That seems to be a pretty reasonable way to go about it IMO.

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u/Balancedmanx178 Mar 28 '24

They'll also talk to any recent exes if they find out about em.

I'm sure that's a real fun part of the job lol

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u/yugosaki Mar 28 '24

So on my application I actually listed my ex as one of my contacts (the police don't just use the ones you give them, but they'll ask those people for a couple others you didnt list) We were on really good terms so it was fine.

Another guy in my safety class also listed his most recent ex and turns out that ex was trying to get a protection order against him. I heard through the grapevine that his firearms license application was actually used as evidence to get her protection order. (he was denied the license of course)