Can we have an agreed upon definition of "mentally ill"?

[slackmaster]

8. Of course you are correct, and those that are dangerous are so mostly to themselves.

The biggest misunderstanding I think people have on this issue is the distinction between being mentally ill, which tens of millions of people are in some form and to some degree, and being adjudicated by a court of law as mentally incompetent.

People who are simply mentally ill and not officially incompetent have the same rights as do people who are not mentally ill. But the law prohibits possession of a firearm by, or the transfer of a firearm to, a person who has been declared by a court of law as mentally incompetent. Those individuals also lose other rights, such as the right to control their personal finances and to decide where to live.

I have personal friends who are mentally ill, with depression, who have voluntarily divested themselves of firearms. That's a sound decision by someone who is at risk for suicidality. However, I cannot support changes in the law to make it too easy to declare a person incompetent - Strong protections are needed to prevent people from being taken advantage of. For example, some elderly people could be victimized by family members if it was too easy to put them under the control of an administrator.