White House announces two new 'executive actions' on guns

[X_Digger]

29. Ahh, so a change to USC 922. That clarifies a lot.

The revised definition clarifies that the statutory terms “adjudicated as a mental defective” and “committed to a mental institution” include persons who are found incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect; persons lacking mental responsibility or deemed insane; and persons found guilty but mentally ill, regardless of whether these determinations are made by a state, local, federal or military court. The proposed regulation also clarifies that the statutory term includes a person committed to involuntary inpatient or outpatient treatment.

The only thing I can see that gives me pause is a scenario like the following: Let's say a father finds his daughter being sexually abused and kills the abuser, but is found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity. That person would never be able to own a gun.

Which gets to a bigger point..

The 1968 GCA was written when the typical 'treatment' for mental illness was involuntary commitment, frequently for decades of a patient's life. There was little understanding about actual treatment- if you were broken, you could never be fixed.

That's a perception that lingers in popular culture today. However, we've come a long way in effectively treating depression and suicidal ideation among other mental conditions that might make one a danger to themselves or others.

The GCA needs to be updated to match the current realities in clinical treatment. It's not an easy challenge, but it needs to be done.