As
you recall, opposed by Attorney General ROY COOPER (D,
GRNC 0-star), SB 2081 claimed to require mentally ill
individuals who have been INVOLUNTARILY COMMITTED to
mental institutions to be reported for inclusion in
the National Instant Check System (NICS) for gun
purchase background checks.
As
usual with gun control, however, that is not all the
bill does. Instead, it would require courts to report
to NICS people who – in contravention of federal law –
are specifically NOT a “danger to themselves or
others,” and have NOT been committed to a mental
institution.
Worse,
SB 2081 is being fast-tracked by Senate Democrats:
Sponsored by powerful Senate Rules Chairman TONY RAND
(D-Bladen/Cumberland, GRNC 1-star), SB 2081 will be
heard by the Senate Judiciary I Committee THIS
TUESDAY, June 10 at 10:00 AM.
NEW
IMPLICATIONS
·
Thousands may be
impacted. People stopped for DUI, and
remanded to alcohol counseling as outpatients could
find themselves reported to the NICS and be prohibited
from owning guns, even though nothing in federal law
would classify them as a “prohibited person.”
·
Gambling
addictions, sexual addictions, or other mandated
counseling: Given that such things may fall
under the definition of “mental illness” in North
Carolina statutes, any of these things would require
clerks of court to report people to the NICS, saddling
them with a potentially permanent firearms disability.
·
None of these
people are dangerous. Indeed, none of them
are “prohibited persons” under federal law. Yet SB
2081 would misuse the NICS system by requiring NC
courts to **report** them as prohibited persons.
WHAT
SB 2081 DOES?
·
IMPACTS
PEOPLE NOT DANGEROUS: Unlike federal law,
Rand’s bill would create new language to bar from
possessing firearms people who are remanded to
OUTPATIENT care by the courts. Under N.C.G.S.
122C-263(d)(2), the only people who can be remanded to
OUTPATIENT care by courts are those are NOT DANGEROUS.
Therefore, the Cooper/Rand atrocity would strip the
rights of people who aren’t a threat to anyone.
·
EXTENDS FAR BEYOND
FEDERAL LAW: While U.S.C. 922(g)(4)
creates a firearm disability for people “adjudicated
as a mental defective [meaning lacking intellectual
capacity] or who has been committed to a mental
institution,” Cooper/Rand TARGETS PEOPLE WHO DO *NOT*
HAVE A FIREARM DISABILITY UNDER FEDERAL LAW.
·
MAKES RESTORATION
OF RIGHTS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE: While
the bill purports to allow people to petition for
restoration of their rights, it is a paper tiger. By
requiring an affidavit from a psychiatrist or
psychologist that the patient is no longer undergoing
treatment and is no longer a danger, and by further
requiring the applicant to prove, at an unachievable
standard, that he is no longer a danger, the bill sets
an unattainable bar for restoration of gun rights.
·
ERODES MEDICAL
PRIVACY: If you have the audacity to
pursue restoration of your gun rights, ALL OF YOUR
MENTAL HEALTH RECORDS WOULD BECOME PUBLIC RECORD.
IMMEDIATE
ACTION REQUIRED
·
IMMEDIATELY E-MAIL
ALL members of the Senate Judiciary I
Committee using GRNC’s automated e-mail system located
Here
·
IMMEDIATELY CALL
Senators listed below IN ADDITION to sending the
e-mail above.
·
CALL YOUR STATE
SENATOR, IF HE/SHE IS ON COMMITTEE: You may
find the name of your NC State Senator by going
Here
DELIVER
THIS MESSAGE:
Dear
Senator:
Senate Bill 2081: “Firearms/Mental Incompetence” is a
dangerously over-reaching bill which exceeds federal
law and stands to people guilty of nothing. Sponsored
by Senator Tony Rand, the bill purports to require
clerks of court to report involuntary commitments to
mental institutions for inclusion in gun purchase
background checks done via the National Instant Check
System.
In reality, however, the bill vastly exceeds federal
law by also including people undergoing OUTPATIENT
care. Doing so creates two problems: First, under
U.S.C. 922(g)(4) federal law creates a firearm
“disability” only for people who are INVOLUNTARILY
COMMITTED to mental institutions. People undergoing
outpatient care have no federal disability.
Second, although federal code deprives of gun
ownership only those who have been “adjudicated to be
a danger to themselves or others,” N.C.G.S.
122C-263(d)(2) specifies that a court may mandate
OUTPATIENT treatment only for those who are
specifically *not* dangerous. Therefore, SB 2081
strips the rights of people who are neither dangerous
not prohibited under federal law.
Although SB 2081 purports to provide a mechanism for
petitioning for the restoration of the individual’s
constitution rights, in truth the evidentiary standard
set by its language – a requirement for “clear and
convincing evidence” – is all but unattainable by the
petitioner.
I
expect you to oppose this bill, Senator, by all means
procedural and substantive. At your earliest
convenience, please advise me of your position.
Respectfully,
CALL
THESE SENATORS:
Judiciary
I Chairman
Senator Martin L. Nesbitt, Jr.
(D-Buncombe, **)
(919) 715-3001
martinn@ncleg.net
Vice Chairman
Senator Phil Berger (R-
Guilford, Rockingham, ****)
(919) 733-5708
philbe@ncleg.net
Senator Andrew C. Brock (R-Davie, Rowan, ****)
(919) 715-0690
Andrewb@ncleg.net
Senator Harry Brown (R-Jones,
Onslow, ****)
(919) 715-3034
Harryb@ncleg.net
Senator Peter S. Brunstetter
(R-Forsyth, GRNC-?)
(919) 733-7850
Peterb@ncleg.net
Senator Malcolm Graham (D-Mecklenburg, ****)
(919) 733-5650
Malcolmg@ncleg.net
Senator David W. Hoyle
(D-Gaston, ***)
(919) 733-5734
Davidh@ncleg.net
Senator Clark Jenkins
(D-Edgecombe, Martin, Pitt, ****)
(919) 715-3040
Clarkj@ncleg.net
Senator Richard Stevens
(R-Wake, ****)
(919) 733-5653
Richards@ncleg.net
Senator Jerry W. Tillman
(R-Montgomery, Randolph, ****)
(919) 733-5870
Jerryt@ncleg.net
