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PTSD VETERANS CAN FACE DIFFICULTIES
GETTING GUN
PERMITS -- Differing laws and vague wording on
applications can cause problems for PTSD vets
seeking gun ownership or carry permits.
Story below:
Your comments accepted at bottom of
page.
Share story/email link.
-------------------------
by Larry Scott
I get a fair amount of email from veterans who
have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) asking
about their rights to own or carry a weapon.
Well, as you will see in the story below, it can
be pretty confusing.
There may be many layers of laws, depending on
location... federal, state, county and municipal.
Let's start with federal. To purchase a
handgun you must pass a background check by the National Instant Criminal
Background Check System (NICS). Your best source for information
about this, and other gun-related issues, is the National Rifle
Association web site, here...
http://www.nra.com/
The only stipulations in the NICS check that
might reference PTSD are these: Has been adjudicated as a mental
defective or committed to a mental institution.
It's important to note that a diagnosis of PTSD
or treatment for PTSD does not put anyone in the "can't buy the gun"
category. Also, voluntary commitment (voluntarily seeking mental
health treatment) is not a disqualifier.
Then, things get more difficult as we run into a
maze of conflicting state, county and sometimes municipal regulations.
The vet in the story below was applying for a gun ownership (not carry)
permit and had to be approved not only by NICS but by the city of Omaha,
Nebraska.
The problem he ran into was this on the local
application: You must "Not have a record of mental disorder."
What does that mean? Actually, very little.
Does that mean a small bout of depression? Or severe, chronic
depression? Or, treatment for alcohol dependence? No one seems
to know.
The vet in the story gave what he thought was an
honest answer and got turned down for the gun ownership permit.
However, there is a happy ending... he appealed and won... and the City of
Omaha is rethinking the wording on their application.
In the state where I live (Washington) you can
own a gun with just a NICS check, but the purchase is registered with
authorities. To carry a gun, you must apply and the mental health
question on the application from the issuing county reads: Have
you ever been confined in a mental health facility for more than fourteen
days for treatment, or committed as criminally insane? This
mirrors, pretty closely, the federal standard and certainly doesn't
pertain to PTSD diagnosis or treatment.
ADVICE TO VETS
If you, like the vet in the story, have a
diagnosis of PTSD and have sought treatment, and want to own or carry a
weapon, here are four tips.
1. If there is a separate state, county or
local application, read it carefully and understand the exact wording.
In most cases it will not apply to you (as in Washington).
2. If the wording on the application is
vague (like Omaha), seek local input from a licensed gun dealer, or head
on over to the VFW or Legion and see what the Brother vets have to say
about their experiences.
3. If still unsure, call the issuing
authority (or have a friend do it) and ask for their take on exactly what
the rule means. They will, most likely, be very exact in their
explanation.
4. Always be truthful. Falsifying
information on these applications is almost always a crime.
I believe it's time for the NRA to put on a huge
push to standardize all local, county and state gun ownership / carry laws
so that they conform to the federal standard. I realize it's a
"state's rights" issue, but the NRA could pump a few more membership
dollars into lobbying so that gun laws apply some common sense and are
uniform across the country.
click for more information -- a disabled veteran
owned business
Story here...
http://www.omaha.com/i
ndex.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10578732
Story below:
-------------------------
A marksman in Iraq; No gun permit in Omaha
BY KEVIN COLE
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Sgt. Tim Mechaley trained fellow Marines to fire .50-caliber machine guns.
He qualified as a marksman. He fought in the battle for Fallujah, Iraq,
and received a combat medal with a "V" for valor.
Back home, he uses a rifle for target shooting.
Yet, when Mechaley sought to buy a 9-mm Ruger pistol for protection at his
midtown apartment, the Omaha Police Department rejected his application
for a gun permit.
"I was trusted by the {federal} government to carry a loaded weapon, but
now I am not allowed to purchase one by my local government," he said.
Mechaley, 32, has received counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder
related to his service in Iraq. While completing an application for a gun
permit, he responded "yes" to a question that asked whether he was being
treated for a mental disorder.
"I circled yes because I wanted to be completely honest," he said.
As explanation, he wrote "PTSD from Iraq Marine combat veteran" on the
form.
Mechaley's application on Jan. 10 was rejected, he was told, because of
that answer.
After talking with police, Mechaley said he had been "too truthful" on the
application.
He started to research gun-permit laws and applications and concluded that
Omaha's permit application was overly vague on its mental-disorder
question.
"If I was actually mentally defective, it would have shown up on the
(National Criminal Investigation Service) background check when I
purchased my hunting rifle."
What the permit form should ask, he said, is whether the applicant has
ever been pronounced mentally impaired or has been committed to a mental
institution.
"That's what the (Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) form asks,
and that's a valid point," he said. "I feel the form at the Omaha Police
Department is too broad and misses the point of our laws."
A psychiatry professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center said,
however, that having guns on hand could be too big of a risk for some with
severe cases of PTSD.
Dr. Carl Greiner said he wasn't familiar with Mechaley's case and couldn't
comment on it.
In general, he said, "There would be some specific instances where I would
be concerned about someone owning a handgun because of public safety
issues."
Using alcohol or drugs to deal with PTSD is a sign of potential trouble,
Greiner said.
"That could result in lowered impulse control and the person might be more
likely to use a gun," he said.
 A
gun permit also shouldn't be allowed when someone suffering from PTSD has
a history of violence upon awakening, Greiner said.
"If that were the case and someone wanted to keep a handgun under their
pillow, it could be a risk to family, friends and others," he said.
Many veterans suffer from PTSD, said Dr. Ahsan Naseem, director of the
Lincoln post-traumatic stress disorder clinic of the Veterans Affairs
Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System.
"It would be uncommon for a combat veteran to not be affected by combat,
which is not to say that each combat veteran would suffer from PTSD," he
said.
Naseem declined to comment on whether PTSD should be considered in
granting gun permits.
Symptoms of PTSD can include powerful, intrusive memories that drill into
day-to-day life. Nightmares, flashbacks and problems sleeping are common,
too, he said.
Mechaley said his PTSD symptoms have improved with counseling.
While serving in Iraq in 2004 and '05, Mechaley watched eight friends die
in combat. When he returned home, he began to suffer from flashbacks and
had trouble sleeping. He was diagnosed with PTSD and started going to
counseling.
In 2006, he was recalled to active duty to help train Marines to shoot.
He still serves in the Marine Reserves.
"I used to go in (to see the counselor) once a week while I was in the
service, but everything is so much better now," he said. "I no longer have
flashbacks or trouble sleeping, and I see the counselor only about once
every three months."
Mechaley compiled his gun-permit research into an appeal. He took a
vacation day recently from his job as a computer technician to present his
case to the city's administrative board of appeals. He documented his
claims of weapon proficiency, military service and valor.
If he had it to do over again, Mechaley told the appeals board, he would
not have circled yes in reply to the question about being treated for a
mental disorder.
"Some of our brave police officers also suffer from PTSD as a result of
trauma in the line of duty, and they are allowed to carry a weapon,"
Mechaley wrote in a letter to the board.
Police department representatives who attended the hearing did not oppose
Mechaley's appeal.
Appeals board member Garry Gernandt, a City Council member, encouraged
Mechaley to take up the issue of how the question on the permit
application is worded with Police Chief Eric Buske.
"The citizen needs to work with the city in a case like this," Gernandt
said.
Buske later told The World-Herald that in response to Mechaley's case, the
police department is looking into changing the question "so it's not quite
so broad."
"We are reviewing our policy to ensure it is in compliance with the city
ordinance," he said.
The department handled more than 4,500 gun registration applications in
2008. Of those, 39 were rejected. Twenty-three rejections were appealed,
and nine of those were reversed.
The appeals board needed fewer than 10 minutes before voting 5-0 to grant
Mechaley a gun permit.
Mechaley was relieved with the reversal, he said, but still hopes to
convince the police department to change its gun-permit request form.
"There are a lot of combat veterans like me out there who come back and
need some help to get over the trauma of war," Mechaley said. "I hope that
my going through this will make it easier for the next guy to get a
permit."
World-Herald Staff Writer Jason Kuiper contributed to this report.
-------------------------
posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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