title: Does the Second Amendment Protect the Gun Rights of Persons With Mental Illness?
abstract: Under federal law, persons who have been involuntarily hospitalized for psychiatric reasons are permanently barred from gun possession. That policy was challenged in 2012 by a Michigan man who had been committed 25 years earlier and who was blocked in 2011 from buying a gun. Considering his claim, the Sixth Circuit held that people with mental illness are not categorically excluded from Second Amendment protection and that an irreversible lifetime ban was unconstitutional. Although many mental health organizations and practitioners favor gun restrictions, they oppose discriminatory treatment of persons with mental illness, creating ambivalence about the decision, which presages greater involvement of mental health professionals in decisions regarding gun rights restoration.
authors.affiliation: Dr. Appelbaum, who is editor of this column, is the Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine and Law, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York City (e-mail: psa21@columbia.edu ).
authors.forename: Paul S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Appelbaum
mesh_terms: D005389:Firearms / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D007878:Legislation as Topic; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*