Can Someone with a history of depression own a gun?

[Aguila Blanca]

Certainly an innocent sounding question, and not a problem in itself. The problem is what they make of the answer.

If one were to answer totally honestly, how could one answer anything but "just a little bit" sad or unhappy??

You're at the VA, (or the doctor's office) if you didn't have some kind of problem, you wouldn't BE there. Maybe that's just me, but I'm never happy about needing to see a doctor.

Trouble is, if you are honest about that, they put you in a little box marked "depressed" or some other label de jour. Same box contains people who are actually mentally ill and unstable. And, of course, to be "fair" everyone in that box must be the same, and treated the same, right?

NOT RIGHT!, but its what often happens.

You are 100 percent correct. The question is innocuous enough, but the problem is what might happen if you say "Yes." I'm not willing to take the chance. I am friendly on a personal basis with the retired assistant pastor of the church my wife and I attended. If I need a sounding board, I meet him for lunch. At the VA -- everything's coming up roses for me. Not a cloud on my horizon.

It's potentially worse at a VA facility than at a real doctor's office. The VA has been taking a lot of criticism over veteran suicides, so they are now hyper-vigilant about PTSD. So the problem is that now they would rather "err on the side of caution," so it's entirely possible that an admission of feeling sad or a little depressed will get a box checked for PTSD -- and the VA reports PTSD cases to NICS for disqualification. (At least, that's what I've been told and that's what I've read.) I had PTSD when I came home from Vietnam. I worked through it without any help from Uncle Sam. 48 years later, I don't want to get that box checked.

[44 AMP]

The VA has been taking a lot of criticism over veteran suicides, so they are now hyper-vigilant about PTSD.

Forgive my cynicism, but as I understand it, the VA also gets a monetary benefit, based on numbers, which I think also is a factor in their "hyper-vigilance" today.

And, in typical bureaucratic fashion, a "one size fits all" solution is cheapest, and therefore most desirable.

The problem with that is, that while one size does fit everyone, it fits no one properly.

The GCA 68 set the law, and since then its been very clear, there is a specific process that must be followed, and followed in each individual case, before "mental illness" LEGALLY prohibits you from possessing firearms.

One Fed agency putting you in the "mentally ill" box, for ANY reason, then reporting that fact to a different Fed agency, who by their different standards then puts you in the "prohibited person" box DOES NOT follow established LAW!

As I see it, its just that simple.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by 44 AMP

Forgive my cynicism, but as I understand it, the VA also gets a monetary benefit, based on numbers, which I think also is a factor in their "hyper-vigilance" today.

I share your cynicism. I don't know for certain, but I suspect that you are correct -- the more people the VA can diagnose as having PTSD, the more money they can get for treating PTSD. The fact that veterans (many of whom are not a danger to anyone) are being arbitrarily deprived of their 2A rights is just collateral damage.

[Eazyeach]

Mosin , if you are feeling like you may be depressed please talk to someone you trust. Be it a parent, a pastor ,or a mental health professional.

I know how much we all love our guns, but do not let that keep you from seeking help. Depression is very serious if left untreated.

If you are not depressed and are just asking out of curiosity ,please disregard. If you are asking on behalf of someone else please encourage them to seek help.

[Aguila Blanca]

Professional "help" isn't always helpful.

My wife died three years ago last week. Our adopted daughter is her natural granddaughter. The death put my daughter into a real tailspin. She was just starting her first year of university. She went off the deep end, got into alcohol and partying, and then a couple of unhealthy relationships. She says she hasn't done drugs, but other members of the birth family who are closer to the situation are fairly certain that drugs were also involved.

So she was depressed. After a year plus, the alcohol and the partying weren't doing it for her, so she decided to commit suicide. She was taking prescription meds for sleeping and for depression, so she decided it would be a good idea to swallow the whole bottle. A friend found her, called an ambulance, and they were able to get her to a hospital and get her stomach pumped ut. She survived.

Her health insurance covered psychiatric care. About a month later, she tried again. Again she was saved. This time she was checked into a clinic for two weeks. She did well at the clinic. They cut her loose after two weeks -- and a week or two later she tried again.

Over a period of a year, she made at least six attempts to kill herself that I know of. She was treated by at least two psychiatrists, and spent about two months (spread out over three separate stays) in clinics. She got to be very good at blaming everything on depression, and not accepting any personal responsibility. (For example, she never referred to any of the attempted suicides as "When I tried to kill myself." She always referred to the incidents as "When that happened to me.") When they finally started controlling her meds, rather than allowing her to have access to an entire bottle, she tried to jump out the window of an eighth floor apartment. Someone stopped her.

A few months ago, I guess she finally hit bottom and realized that being depressed is not an excuse, it's a choice. She finally chose (she says) to stop being depressed. She had long since been kicked out of the university she was attending. She studied up, took a new set of entrance exams, and got herself admitted to a different (and better) university, with a scholarship. I hope she's getting herself back on track, but I don't give any credit to the psychiatrists who were treating her. I think they made her worse rather than better.

Getting help is good if you can find the right kind of help, but what we're discussing here is the possible unintended consequences of seeking help from people who don't play by the rules regarding classifying you as unsuitable to be allowed to play with guns. Yes, some people really shouldn't be allowed to have guns, but there are a lot more who are being classified as prohibited who shouldn't be.

Choose wisely. Be careful where you go for help.

[Evan Thomas]

This thread is 2 1/2 years old, and PTSD, the VA system, and the inadequacies of the mental health care system are all completely irrelevant to the question asked by the OP -- who was asking about a point of law, not for advice about treating depression.

This perfectly illustrates why we discourage people from reopening old threads.