purchases with prior psych issues

[bowbag 0]

I know some of you are NJ FFL dealers so I was curious of your take on my situation.  I doubt many of you remember my post back in may but pretty much for the past year I've been going back and forth with the NJSP.  I already have my FID, which I got back in 2000 and I had gotten pistol permits before multiple times but early this year when I put in for a couple more permits I was flagged for a mental hospital visit I did as a minor.  Long story short I had to go to a psych for a full mental evaluation, which I did.  I have an official letter verifying my ability to be trusted with firearms.  I submitted this along with my app to the NJSP, who said it looked good, sent it to Trenton, who also said it looked good and I finally got my permits.

 

Last night I bought my first pistol with one fo my recently attained permits.  I bought it from a FFL dealer that I know, who was famliar with my situation.  On one of the forms I had to fill out with questions like , "are you a alchoholic?" or "are you a fellon?", there was a question that went something like "are you mentally ill OR have you ever been to a mental institution?" to answer honestly I had to say Yes to this one.  My dealer buddy said it wasn't really a big deal cause that form was more just for his paperwork and in most cases it doesn't go anywhere but his filing cabinet.  After I filled out the paperwork, he did the NICS check and everything went fine, I have my pistol.

 

My question is in other cases where I don't know the dealer, is answering yes to that question going to be an issue for me with the dealer?  Should I only buy from dealers I know?  Sometimes I buy long arms at gunshows in PA and it would be a bummer if that wasn't an option anymore.  Do I need to bring a copy of my psych eval with me when I go gun shopping? That would seem odd but the way things are in this state I just don't know anymore.

[kman 56]

Which form are you talking about?  There are only two that would be at issue here.

 

The Federal Form 4473:

 

http://www.atf.gov/files/forms/download/atf-f-4473-1.pdf

 

The NJSP Certificate of Eligibility:

 

http://www.njsp.org/info/pdf/firearms/sp-634.pdf

 

--The NJSP Certificate of Eligibility asks if you have been confined for a mental disorder since issuance of your FID card.  That is a "No" for you based on what you say - this happened long ago, long before you ever got your card in the first place.

 

By the way, the form itself (lower left hand corner) says that if you answered "Yes" to this question, the transfer cannot go forward.  I'd get this taken care of.  Go back to the store and correct that form if you answered yes here!

 

--The Federal 4473 form asks if you have been adjudicated mentally defective or committed to a mental institution.  If you read the explanation of this question (Question 11.F - Page 4 provides explanation), it basically says that if you were voluntarily admitted, or admitted for observation, the answer is "No".  It is only "Yes" if some sort of "board, court, commission or other lawful authority" committed you.  If none of that happened to you, your answer to that question is "No".

 

If you answered "Yes" to that question on the 4473 form, the dealer should not have transferred the gun to you and probably broke federal law doing so.  You need to get there and correct that form if the answer should be yes ASAP.  An ATF agent auditing the guy's paperwork spotting could get you into a real legal jam.

 

If you were actually committed when you were little, you need to get in contact with a lawyer to see if that messes you up federally.  The feds might count childhood events, they might not.

 

Either way, look at those questions carefully, consider whatever happend in your past, and get this situation fixed.  Those forms sitting at the dealer are an open invitation for the ATF to come to your house.  A "yes" answer to the 4473 form essentially tells them you are a prohibited person and they could probably get a search warrant based on that alone.

[henrym 19]

Yes. If you answer to that question it is disqualifying.

 

I have had customers in your situation and that is how it is handled.

[bowbag 0]

I'm refering to question 11.F on Federal 4473, I was fine on the NJSP Certificate of Eligibility form.  And I was voluntarily admitted so I should have answered no.  Dang it!  I'll give him a call get it sorted as soon as I can.  I'm pissed at myself for not reading the fine print on that one.  It just didn't feel right when I answered that, that's why I asked.  Thanks for the info kman this is exactly what I was looking for.