The left is happy to push the ‘mental illness’ mantra when it comes to gun control. Why? Partially because yeah, we don’t want insane people with guns. Good safety tip. However, who gets to define what is insane? Do you take any of these medications? Guess what - no gun for you!
On April 1st, a legal gun owner in upstate New York reportedly received an official notice from the state ordering him to surrender any and all weapons to his local police department. The note said that the person’s permit to own a gun in New York was being suspended as well. The gun owner contacted attorney Jim Tresmond (a specialist in gun laws in New York) and the two visited the local police precinct.Mr. Tresmond reportedly went into the precinct and informed the officers that his client, waiting in the parking lot, was coming in to voluntarily surrender his weapons as requested. The local police were aware of the letter because they had already been contacted by the State Police. Apparently, if people do not respond to the initial mailing, local law enforcement is authorized to visit the gun owner at their home and demand the surrender of the firearms. In this case, the gun owner followed the request as written. The guns and permits were handed over and a receipt given to the client.
After the guns were turned over, a request for a local hearing was filed and the gun owner is expecting to have his Second Amendment rights restored. But there is more to this story.
In our conversation with lawyer Jim Tresmond, we learned that this client, who has never had a problem with the law — no criminal record and or violent incidents on record — did have a temporary, short term health issue that required medication. But how were his client’s private medical information accessed by the government? This appears to be a violation of HIPAA and Health Information Privacy policies at HHS.gov. If it is declared a violation, this becomes a civil rights issue.
Some claim that a broad interpretation of this statement from HIPAA might allow the government to have instant access to the medical records and gun ownership records of anyone who is prescribed psychotropic drugs.
" This is exactly what we said would happen. The day we came back from vacation, I said if you really want to do it, you go after anybody who's on medication because we are the overmedicated society. How many people do we know who are on Prozac and everything else?" Glenn said.
Psychotropic drugs include Ambien, Prozac, Ritalin, Valium, Xanax, and Thorazine.
"If you have taken or are taking a psychotropic drug, you will lose your gun in New York, at least if this stands. This is from the SAFE Act, the mental health law provision of the SAFE Act, the one that they just passed in New York. It has a short phrase: Protect the public's health and wellbeing. It's being cited as the reason government can require notification of any gun owner who is prescribed a class of drugs used to treat depression and anxiety known as SSRI," Glenn said.
