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OMG! 20k Mentally Ill People in CA With Guns! OMG!

Robert Farago - comments No comments

“More than 20,000 people prohibited from owning a gun because they are diagnosed with a mental illness own some sort of firearm, according to a state audit released on Tuesday,” news10.net reports. “The audit, called ‘Armed Persons With Mental Illness, outlines a communications failure between the California Department of Justice and the state’s court system in reporting and identifying people diagnosed with a mental illness and who own guns. ‘It’s not acceptable and we want to make sure that we’re going after the individuals that have weapons that have mental health issues,’ State Sen. Ted Gaines, R-Rocklin, said.” So riddle me this: how come there haven’t been 20k spree killings by mentally ill people with registered weapons in California? Or 2000? Or 200? Or 20? Wait! I know! Because one’s too many! More than that . . .

“The safety of our communities relies upon government at every level doing a better job of reporting this information,” according to “one of the assembly members who requested the audit.”

If the safety of California communities relies on government efficiency, Golden State residents might as well give up now. And buy a gun to protect themselves. But not seek treatment for mental health issues. ‘Cause history (i.e. political abuse of psychiatry in Russia) tells us that you have to be crazy to trust the government to not confiscate your guns once you do. Just sayin’ . . .

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Robert Farago

Robert Farago is the former publisher of The Truth About Guns (TTAG). He started the site to explore the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns.

0 thoughts on “OMG! 20k Mentally Ill People in CA With Guns! OMG!”

  1. Having never read a Bond book, but recalling O’s numerous attempts to get Bond to carry a real pistol with a bit of oomph, perhaps someone could enlighten me as to why this macho man carried such a ridiculously underpowered .32 caliber firearm? As powerful as a brick though a window? I think not.

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  2. I’m curious about California’s definition of a mental illness. Would a minor learning disability or a.d.d qualify.

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  3. If .22 ever stays on the shelves again, I’m buying a .22 revolver and semi auto for practice and funsies. And maybe using it to teach my wife to shoot. This looks like a good option

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  4. I’m reading through the report right now, and here’s what jumps out at me so far:

    1) 20k isn’t the number of people who own guns but are disqualified by reason of mental illness. Only about 1/3 or them are on the list for that. It seems likely the bulk of the remainder is on the list for reasons of criminal history.

    2) While the report raises a lot of issues regarding communication failures between courts, mental health facilities, and he California DOJ, this 20k figure isn’t about those. Those communication failures explain why there aren’t more than 20k people on that list. The 20k represents the people the DOJ already knows to be illegally armed (mostly, as you recall, for reasons of criminal history) but can’t be arsed to do anything about.

    So the upshot is this: California has set up all these laws and all this bureaucracy to keep guns out of the hands of criminals (some mentally ill persons, but mostly criminals). It has used that bureaucracy to compile a large database of known armed criminals, along with their addresses, and has proceeded to simply do nothing about them.

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  5. “we want to make sure that we’re going after the individuals that have weapons that have mental health issues”

    Boy oh boy, listen to the language he is using. Firearm+mental illness = go after them. As if they are a mortal enemy that must be destroyed. Oh Kalifornia…

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  6. “Did anti-semitism play any part in the anti-Bloomberg, anti-Morse and Giron backlash? It wasn’t mentioned overtly but Hizzoner’s moniker leaves no doubt as to his ethnicity.”

    It could be construed as antisemitism if that’s what you’re looking for.
    However I think it has far more to do with the fact that most Jewish-Americans are aligned with the far left. I’m equal opportunity. I don’t particularly care who you are or what your background and ethnicity are. I think gun shows in the Atlanta area demonstrate that – there’s usually a good smattering of different ethnicities and peoples, enjoying their 2A rights.

    It boils down to this, for me and many other gunners.
    If you love freedom and can live and let live, we’re on the same side.
    If you try take my freedoms or my guns, you are my sworn enemy.

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  7. f the anti-gunners use this as an excuse for their losses, I wouldn’t be surprised, but I haven’t even had a thought about Bloomberg’s ethnicity/religion cross my mind. I’m too hung up on his stupidity and hubris to let his being Jewish get in the way.

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  8. My Glocks are the only guns I own that I haven’t modified. Makes them a little boring but the warrenty/customer service is not something I want to mess with. My 20 year old G21 has gone back to Glock a few times, the last was for a new barrel which they replaced at no charge.

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  9. I started building my first 300 BLK AR-15 about three years ago. I now have three.

    My first was a pistol with pretty generic parts, nothing too exciting.

    My favorite is:
    AAC brake / can mount
    9″ Noveske barrel
    Troy Alpha Rail
    LAR OPS-4 upper & BCG (I don’t like having all that crap squirt in my face from the T-handle and forward assist).
    New Frontier Polymer Lower
    JP Quiet Spring
    Geissele SSA-E trigger group
    MagPul MBUS
    Whichever Aimpoint I feel like using that day
    Magpul MOE grip
    Pistol buffer tube (no evil SBRs in WA)

    I also have essentially the same gun with a 16″ barrel, an MOE stock, and a generic mil-spec aluminum lower.

    And I have an AAC 762-SDN-6 that I can swap around between them. When I get my thunderbeast can, I might build a fourth and pin the AAC can to a 10″ barrel, so I can put a rifle stock on it without risking a felony.

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  10. On the whole +P thing, you really don’t want to shoot +P in anything that has an alloy frame. Steel frame goes best with +P. You aren’t going to kill anyone any deader with +P anyway. The statistics just aren’t worth the time. Just stick with regular 9mm ammo and you will rock the ranges world. I know everyone wants a higher octane fuel, but in reality, its not even necessary. I carried SCCY CPX-1 as a backup weapon and exclusively as CC. I carried .22 caliber for years and years and have no issue carrying .22 as a conceal carry anywhere. Get one with a 10rd capacity and get on with it. .22 is a lethal round. I lost a good friend on a traffic stop, “Wearing a bullet proof vest” via a .22 caliber revolver. Shot under the arm while radioing for backup. Straight to the heart and died in minutes. So don’t let anyone tell you .22 won’t kill you dead either.

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  11. I think it’s fair for her to say that she does not like guns and does not want to carry a gun. As an American, it’s her right to make that choice for herself.

    It is not her right to deny me mine, nor is it her right to refuse to protect children by whatever means necessary when she knowingly went into a profession where she would be responsible for the lives of students. This will get a lot of flack from the left (and possibly from TTAG, but whatever), but here it goes:

    Teachers should go through the same background check and selection process as police officers. Before being put in a position of absolute authority over a crop of youth, they should be thoroughly vetted and trained. They should swear an oath, similar to that of any elected official, soldier, or police officer, to protect the students under their authority at any cost.

    I’m currently in college, and I’ve meat a ton of f*ck head Education majors who have no business teaching anything. I’d like to see more responsibility in deciding who educates children.

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  12. She is still pretty young. I am sure she is surrounded by liberals at college and Psych majors were among the most liberal when I was in college. My wife changed when she had kids. I think the NRA approach is good if a school district or city has the money to keep trained LE folks in the schools. It works here in some schools in the Seattle area (a very liberal area) If not teachers who volunteer should be allowed to carry. Some women have the gene to shoot and kill in self defense. Some women change when they have kids too.

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  13. I’ll change the sights, and stipple the grip, but that’s it. If I were to buy a new Glock, I’d consider polishing the trigger group, but it would most likely smooth out after I put a bunch of rounds through it (which is what I’d do before carrying it anyhow)

    I’d never alter the factory trigger pull. Even if I’m 100% in the right to defend myself, I want to eliminate any chance of a “hair trigger” being presented to a judge or jury.

    I carry the same ammunition as the local police, so as to not hear about extra deadly hollow points. Agencies don’t allow officers to alter their duty weapons for the same reason, it’s a liability. The Glock trigger isn’t that bad, and for a combat tool it is better than a lot. If someone finds that it is unmanageable, they either need a lot more range time working on fundamentals, or choose a defensive weapon.

    None of that applies to range toys…I’m all for going crazy with the mods for that. But for training and carry/duty use, keep it stock.

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  14. Meanwhile, only 1-2 percent of all law enforcement contacts involve the use of force, according to the statistics I’ve seen. So what exactly is the point of this excessive focus on militarization, which seems largely ineffective given the videos and news reports I’ve seen anyway.

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  15. Tilman Fertitta is the grandson of Vic Fertitta, the mob guy in Galveston who ran the notorious Balinese Room. His cousins Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta own the Station Casinos in Las Vegas. Oh, and the UFC. Which bought the Japanese “Pride Fighting” marque from the Yakuza.

    So why does he support gun control?

    “It’s the best thing you can do for crooks and gangsters. I want you to have nothing. If I’m a bad guy, I’m always gonna have a gun. Safety locks? You pull the trigger with a lock on, and I’ll pull the trigger. We’ll see who wins.”

    Sammy “The Bull” Gravano

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  16. Ahhh Sugarman. He’s like an old football knee injury- you forget about it most the time, then a cold breeze starts up and you remember how much you want to go back in time and beat somebody’s ass.

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  17. Man, there is so much BS in that letter I cant see straight.

    It implies that women should not by guns because they stand a high probability of being killed by a partner with said gun. The problem is that most women who are abused by a partner are not killed by them – so you are already talking about a fraction of a demographic. Further more there is complete avoidance of all the rapes, robberies, abductions, etc. that a gun might help a woman avoid, including violence by a partner in general by the larger percentage of women who aren’t killed by them.

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  18. So don’t buy a gun because he may take it to shoot you?
    Then by that logic don’t buy kitchen knifes, pot, pans, a bat, tire iron, or just about anything else.
    We need frying pan regulation!

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  19. Wasn’t it Michael Moore who wanted the pictures to be released? The point being to rub our faces in what WE allowed to happen? If the photos are released, I predict MSNBC will air a special where they show each one of them in sequence while narrating the 911 transcript and half-screening Ted Nugent and Alex Jones at the Alamo rally.

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  20. Has anyone else thought of this round for anti-drone work? Specifically the helicopter like low altitude drones like the ones PETA are advertising. Only when the drones present a clear and present danger to the life or limb of someone of course.

    NukemJimn

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  21. How do people seriously think that this would be ok? swinging an axe at ANY random person as they try to intervene on your epicly stupid stunt, smfh.

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