*
Adam L. Silverman
Last weekend's post on how the Lafayette movie theater shooter got his gun included the links to the relevant portions of the Alabama and Georgia codes in regard to mental health commitment being a disqualifying event for the purchase of a firearm. What it appeared to be, based on the Georgia code, was that the commitment had aged out under Georgia law. At The Truth About Guns, Nick Leghorn argued that the shooter would have had to falsify his answers to the Form 4473, which is, of course, a crime. We now know that neither his involuntary commitment, nor his answers on From 4473 were disqualifying accounts or a criminal act. The reason for this is because Houser was not involuntarily committed. He was subjected to an Order to Apprehend by a probate court judge in Carroll County. An Order to Apprehend is the first step in the evaluation process - a process that is intended to NOT run roughshod over anyone's civil rights and liberties. Houser was brought in, evaluated, and the recommendation from the mental health professionals was not hospitalization - i.e. involuntary commitment. As such, nothing regarding his mental health status would have or should have been entered into NICS. As for all of his other run ins with the law: the link to the Ledger-Enquirer story has a full run down of everything he was alleged to have done, as well as how and why none of it ever, in the end, resulted in a felony conviction.
* Hi-Point .40. Image found here. Houser used a Hi-Point .40, my apologies to all GLOCKophiles/GLOCK fanboys that felt besmirched by last weekends graphic of the Plastic Fantastic...
** I know I promised a review of Winkler's Gunfight. I want to reread the book before I do it up as I originally read it last August. I have an analytical project I'm working on for work, which should be done by the end of the week. So I'll endeavor to get it up in a ten-day or so.