Will I be denied a firearms based off of an involuntary commitment?

SillySauce · Sep 30, 2016

This may be a difficult question.

When I was 14 I stayed 8 days at Sheppard Pratt. It had nothing to do with mental illness. The juvenile section was for a max 5-8 day stay for behavior incidents. I have never been arrested, nor have I had the police called on me for any reason. I am now 25.

Will I have to contact a doctor and prove that I am mentally fit to own a gun? (that is one option that I read) Or can I get this easily be expunged somehow?

Being a minor at the time, and being that my parents committed me, I am thinking that this may be considered voluntary commitment by law. I read that only 30 or more days of voluntary commitment in MD forbids you from owning a gun.

DaemonAssassin · Sep 30, 2016

Federally, no.

MD state, that depends.

For MD it depends on what kind of firearm you are trying to buy. If you are trying to buy a handgun, that may pose issues, that I will leave to a more knowledgeable member. If you are trying to buy a shotgun, semi-auto rifle, bolt action rifle, or lever action rifle, you should be ok, because MD does not require a 77R for those. For the firearms that do not require a 77R, you do the standard BATFE Form 4473 and do your NICS check. If you pass, you pass. If you don't pass, you can call and ask why.

You also need to look at if it is considered involuntary commitment. That would be the path I would head towards for this, since you were involuntarily committed as a minor.

unimogger · Sep 30, 2016

Was this a court-ordered commitment (and in a court record) or done by your family via private insurance?

SillySauce · Sep 30, 2016

unimogger said:
Was this a court-ordered commitment (and in a court record) or done by your family via private insurance?

This was done by my family via private insurance.

swinokur · Sep 30, 2016

The MD statute says voluntary commitment more than 30 days prohibits you or an involuntary commitment of any length.

according to the definitions-include an admission to a facility, not necessarily a committment by a court.

IANAL

See statutes 5-133.2 and 10-101

mxrider · Sep 30, 2016

swinokur said:
The MD statute says voluntary commitment more than 30 days prohibits you or an involuntary commitment of any length.

according to the definitions-a commitment is any admission to a facilty, not necessarily by a court.

IANAL

See statutes 5-133.1 and 10-101

This is the actual situation. I disagree that those that state if you pass a NICS check, you are good to go. Based upon what has been stated, I believe you are a prohibited person. Not what you wanted to hear, but I BELIEVE this is the case.

StantonCree · Sep 30, 2016

No offense OP anyone else notice these come in droves?

FPL53 · Sep 30, 2016

More so around election time and massacres.

HordesOfKailas · Sep 30, 2016

mpdc4511 said:
No offense OP anyone else notice these come in droves?

Seems to be a trend lately, for sure.

swinokur · Sep 30, 2016

call an attorney for legal advice.

swinokur · Sep 30, 2016

an involuntary commitment of any length makes you prohibited..the definition of commitment includes any admission to a facility the way I read it.

sorry.

as I said, contact an attorney.

Blaster229 · Sep 30, 2016

Only 1 way to find out if it's an issue.

Sundazes · Sep 30, 2016

Did you sign anything prior to being admitted? If so, find out what it was. They will offer to have you sign a voluntary commitment form even thought you are going in no matter what. If you signed it, it was voluntary, if not, it was not.
IANAL or Dr, but I have experience in this with a family member who has done a couple stays there.

rseymorejr · Sep 30, 2016

sundazes said:
Did you sign anything prior to being admitted? If so, find out what it was. They will offer to have you sign a voluntary commitment form even thought you are going in no matter what. If you signed it, it was voluntary, if not, it was not.
IANAL or Dr, but I have experience in this with a family member who has done a couple stays there.

He was a minor. His parents probably had to sign.

SillySauce · Sep 30, 2016

Blaster229 said:
Only 1 way to find out if it's an issue.

That's exactly right.

rseymorejr said:
He was a minor. His parents probably had to sign.

Yeah, my mom had to sign a paper when I got there. This is what leads me to believe that this is considered voluntary commitment under the law, since I was minor. I'm sure the paper had "voluntary" on it.

I will now be checking with some lawyers on subreddit on reddit. (Didn't think of that earlier)

sundazes said:
Did you sign anything prior to being admitted? If so, find out what it was. They will offer to have you sign a voluntary commitment form even thought you are going in no matter what. If you signed it, it was voluntary, if not, it was not.
IANAL or Dr, but I have experience in this with a family member who has done a couple stays there.

No, I didnt sign anything.

unimogger · Sep 30, 2016

It sounds like a hospitalization for evaluation (and one might infer from the [only] eight day stay that it resulted in a determination he was not a danger to himself or others) . . . Without a court order for treatment or an informed consent for treatment (not possible at 14 years of age) was that a commitment?

Mark75H · Sep 30, 2016

SillySauce said:
checking with some lawyers on subreddit on reddit. (Didn't think of that earlier)

And you will most likely find that they know even less than the members here :cool:

alucard0822 · Sep 30, 2016

Talk to a lawyer to be sure, but the legal definition of an involuntary commitment involves a court order, a doctor cannot do it alone. Same with "adjudicated mentally defective or unable to manage your own affairs", a court ordered evaluation isn't neccesarily an involuntary commitment either. Thankfully the bar is set fairly high, court order, usually the result of an arrest, crime, and plead of incompetent to stand trial, or a judicial hearing with a medical board in front of a judge that results in an arrest. 8 days with no warrant or court appearance all but guarantees it was "voluntary".
http://www.dsd.state.md.us/comar/SubtitleSearch.aspx?search=10.21.01.*

Minuteman · Oct 1, 2016

mpdc4511 said:
No offense OP anyone else notice these come in droves?

swinokur said:
call an attorney for legal advice.

https://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?p=4518462#post4518462

K31 · Oct 1, 2016

mpdc4511 said:
No offense OP anyone else notice these come in droves?

Yes.

that's why the best thing is probably to respond:

"Call a lawyer"

and leave it at that.

Will I be denied a firearms based off of an involuntary commitment?

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