House Republicans Just Voted To Allow Severely Mentally Ill People To Buy Guns

[hollowdweller]

23. I retired from doing SS disability claims and this puzzles me

My understanding of it is if you were found incapable of managing your benefits then the order prevented you from owning a gun.

What are the sorts of things that render a person incapable??

Well one is a very low IQ. Another would be a long history of substance abuse and homelessness where you could not be counted on to use the money to provide food, clothing or shelter for yourself. Another might be if you have severe bipolar disorder and have manic episodes where you spend all your money.

In general 90% of the people I determined to need a payee I wouldn't have wanted owning a gun.

In fact I would even go farther and say if somebody is found disabled on a mental basis they should have to be cleared by a doctor before they are allowed to own guns. More than a few doctors notes I read told the families to remove guns from the house even though the people were not judged violent, or suicidal and these were people not even bad enough to need a payee. Sometimes not even bad enough to be allowed period.

Been more than a few times over the 30 years I worked there where there were people I or my co workers allowed and then we'd see them later in the paper for shooting someone.

This has gotta be all about pleasing the gun manufacturers, because they seem to have no problem limiting benefits for people who test positive for drugs on other programs, but limiting guns for people who pose a legitimate risk is a no no?