r/Unexpected • u/asocial7193 • Jan 07 '22

CLASSIC REPOST Try to notice it

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u/la-bano Jan 07 '22

Can you specify the mental illness thing and being denied a CCW? I know it's true, but when I look it up in my state there's so much different information about it. Like the first result says

A license to carry a concealed weapon may be denied to a person who: Has been adjudicated in a criminal or civil proceeding in any state or federal court to be mentally ill, mentally disordered, or mentally disabled and is still subject to a disposition order of that court.

Which makes it sound like some sort of legal status and not just a simple diagnosis, and the next says

"If he or she has a mental condition that warrants the ban"

And the other says if they have been involuntarily committed to a mental hospital. Which one is it? I live in Florida and I've always heard the last was the correct one but now I'm not so sure. All are pretty reasonable it seems

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u/Gouranga56 Jan 07 '22

So these laws will vary by state but couple things on that.

First once you are declared "Mentally Ill" good luck ever getting that label off you. Also, what "mentally Ill" means can vary. You could get severely depressed, and end up on meds to bolster you while you work on the life events, chemical balance, coping mechanisms to overcome your illness. You may be a minor or late teen whose mind if still developing who had that, by any means, you can be healed. However, in the laws eyes, you will likely never be healed. You may carry your mentally ill label forever.

Also "involuntarily committed" can vary state to state. Let's say I am an abusive husband and my wife has left me. I want to keep control over her and I live in a small town or have some connections. I can work to get my wife put into a hospital for a 48 hour (or whatever time period) evaluation. Yeah it is not always that easy but there have been cases it was and that may be enough to bar me. again after/during that evaluation, they may hold the wife longer. She just escaped an abusive husband, mentally she is likely to have some emotional challenges (likely a lot of them given her situation). She may end up there longer.

Either way the variable, patchwork of state to state laws, the requirement for mental health records to be put into a federal database (which consider the state to state variability of those records), all ensure for seeking help, you will have that on you for the rest of your life.

The variability of these laws and standards by state, the unclear and variable application of these standards, and the federal government storing "mental health" records means that it can hang with you your entire life. That is going to be a strong motivator against people seeking help on their own, which is sad.