Subhead: Two recent Oklahoma City cases point to loopholes in system designed to keep guns out of the hands of the severely mentally ill.
By Juliana Keeping
Published: October 20, 2013
Daniel Green got a family member's handgun at home.
Gerald David Hume bought rifles and a handgun at Walmart and Gun World.
Green, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, is accused of killing two women, a teenage girl and a baby boy - all family members - in August.
Hume, also diagnosed with schizophrenia, is accused of shooting his mother to death and dismembering her body. Police made the gruesome discovery Nov. 14, after an 11-hour standoff in southeast Oklahoma City.
Green's family members took steps to keep the guns in the house away from him, but he got one anyway, police said.
Hume, although mentally ill and unstable, easily purchased weapons, Oklahoma City police said.
The scenarios paint a stark reality: The severely mentally ill have easy access to guns in Oklahoma.
The law
At H&H Shooting Sports, buyers show proof of age and residency before filling out seven pages of federal and store paperwork.
A potential buyer at the sprawling sport shooting complex and gun store stands at a computer kiosk to enter data on Form 4473.
The federal form is sent to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System in an effort to weed out people with issues like criminal activity and severe mental health issues in their backgrounds.
A question on the form asks “Have you ever been adjudicated mentally defective?” The court jargon translates to being ruled a danger to yourself or others, unable to manage your affairs or committed to a mental institution.
“It encompasses individuals court-ordered for involuntary mental health treatment,” said Dewayne Moore, general counsel for the state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
People ruled mentally defective by the court also include those who lack the capacity to take care of themselves, such as people with impaired memory or dementia.
“And then you have people who are found not guilty by reason of insanity,” Moore said.
“You have your individuals found not competent to stand trial.”
If a person checks “yes” to the question “Have you ever been adjudicated mentally defective?” on the federal paperwork, the sale is canceled.
If the mental health question and others check out, the form is run through the national database.
Unlike questions pertaining to criminal conviction, when it comes to mental health, there is nothing to assure a respondent is being honest because Oklahoma law prohibits mental health professionals from sending mental health records to the database.
Other disqualifying records, like those for domestic violence and felony criminal convictions, are sent to the database.
Hume, the man accused of murdering his mother, checked “no” on the mental health question before purchasing his guns.
He is accused of shooting Janet Kay Hume, 77, multiple times and dismembering her.
House Bill 1240 sought to close the mental illness loophole by requiring county clerks to submit to the database the names of everyone the court found to be a danger to himself or others, found lacking the mental capacity to manage his own affairs, found insane in a criminal case or found to be incompetent to stand trial.
The bill captured a majority vote in the House but died in a Senate committee in the spring.
“Gun sellers were in favor of getting it done,” said Miles Hall, president and founder of H&H Shooting Sports. “Why it failed, I have no idea.”
The reality
Better background checks won't necessarily keep guns out of the hands of the severely mentally ill, Oklahoma City police Capt. Dexter Nelson said.
Guns are stolen. Gun shows and private sellers do not have a background check requirement. Or guns are simply available at home, like in Daniel Green's case.
“There were weapons in the house, and he lived there,” Nelson said.
Killed were Green's mother, Sallie Green, 57; his sister, Rebecca Cizek, 34; and Cizek's children, Katherine Cizek, 16, and Amario Dominguez III, who was 6 months old.
Green's father, Raymond Green, told police all of his guns were locked up in the house, though a family member's gun was hidden in the attic.
“That's another problem,” Nelson said.
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The Oklahoman has disabled comments on the article so I thought I'd start a thread here for the comments this deserves.
What say you, OSA???
Link: http://newsok.com/current-laws-dont-keep-guns-from-severely-mentally-ill-in-oklahoma/article/3895775
By Juliana Keeping
Published: October 20, 2013
Daniel Green got a family member's handgun at home.
Gerald David Hume bought rifles and a handgun at Walmart and Gun World.
Green, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, is accused of killing two women, a teenage girl and a baby boy - all family members - in August.
Hume, also diagnosed with schizophrenia, is accused of shooting his mother to death and dismembering her body. Police made the gruesome discovery Nov. 14, after an 11-hour standoff in southeast Oklahoma City.
Green's family members took steps to keep the guns in the house away from him, but he got one anyway, police said.
Hume, although mentally ill and unstable, easily purchased weapons, Oklahoma City police said.
The scenarios paint a stark reality: The severely mentally ill have easy access to guns in Oklahoma.
The law
At H&H Shooting Sports, buyers show proof of age and residency before filling out seven pages of federal and store paperwork.
A potential buyer at the sprawling sport shooting complex and gun store stands at a computer kiosk to enter data on Form 4473.
The federal form is sent to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System in an effort to weed out people with issues like criminal activity and severe mental health issues in their backgrounds.
A question on the form asks “Have you ever been adjudicated mentally defective?” The court jargon translates to being ruled a danger to yourself or others, unable to manage your affairs or committed to a mental institution.
“It encompasses individuals court-ordered for involuntary mental health treatment,” said Dewayne Moore, general counsel for the state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
People ruled mentally defective by the court also include those who lack the capacity to take care of themselves, such as people with impaired memory or dementia.
“And then you have people who are found not guilty by reason of insanity,” Moore said.
“You have your individuals found not competent to stand trial.”
If a person checks “yes” to the question “Have you ever been adjudicated mentally defective?” on the federal paperwork, the sale is canceled.
If the mental health question and others check out, the form is run through the national database.
Unlike questions pertaining to criminal conviction, when it comes to mental health, there is nothing to assure a respondent is being honest because Oklahoma law prohibits mental health professionals from sending mental health records to the database.
Other disqualifying records, like those for domestic violence and felony criminal convictions, are sent to the database.
Hume, the man accused of murdering his mother, checked “no” on the mental health question before purchasing his guns.
He is accused of shooting Janet Kay Hume, 77, multiple times and dismembering her.
House Bill 1240 sought to close the mental illness loophole by requiring county clerks to submit to the database the names of everyone the court found to be a danger to himself or others, found lacking the mental capacity to manage his own affairs, found insane in a criminal case or found to be incompetent to stand trial.
The bill captured a majority vote in the House but died in a Senate committee in the spring.
“Gun sellers were in favor of getting it done,” said Miles Hall, president and founder of H&H Shooting Sports. “Why it failed, I have no idea.”
The reality
Better background checks won't necessarily keep guns out of the hands of the severely mentally ill, Oklahoma City police Capt. Dexter Nelson said.
Guns are stolen. Gun shows and private sellers do not have a background check requirement. Or guns are simply available at home, like in Daniel Green's case.
“There were weapons in the house, and he lived there,” Nelson said.
Killed were Green's mother, Sallie Green, 57; his sister, Rebecca Cizek, 34; and Cizek's children, Katherine Cizek, 16, and Amario Dominguez III, who was 6 months old.
Green's father, Raymond Green, told police all of his guns were locked up in the house, though a family member's gun was hidden in the attic.
“That's another problem,” Nelson said.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = == = = = = = =
The Oklahoman has disabled comments on the article so I thought I'd start a thread here for the comments this deserves.
What say you, OSA???
Link: http://newsok.com/current-laws-dont-keep-guns-from-severely-mentally-ill-in-oklahoma/article/3895775
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