Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 104
As more and more states decriminalize marijuana, this is an issue
that must ultimately be resolved.
5. A person can’t legally buy or possess firearms if they are a
“mental defective”
What does “mental defective” mean? A person is considered to
have been adjudicated as a “mental defective” if there has been
a “determination by a court, board, commission, or other lawful
authority that a person, as a result of marked subnormal intelligence,
or mental illness, incompetency, condition, or disease: is a danger
to himself or others, or lacks the mental capacity to contract or
manage his own affairs.” The term mentally defective includes a
finding of insanity by a court in a criminal case, and those persons
found incompetent to stand trial or found not guilty by reason of
lack of mental responsibility. See 27 CFR § 478.11.
Mentally defective also includes a person who has been committed
to a mental institution by a court, board, commission, or other lawful
authority, or a commitment to a mental institution involuntarily.
The term includes commitment for mental defectiveness or mental
illness, and also includes commitment for other reasons, such as drug
use. However, it does not include a person in a mental institution
for observation or a voluntary admission to a mental institution.
Individuals who have been adjudicated as a mental defective are
also prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law. See 18
U.S.C. § 922(g)(4).
6. A person subject to a restraining order may not purchase or
possess a firearm
Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), firearms may not be sold to or
received by a person subject to a court order that: (a) was issued
Purchasing, Transferring, And Possessing Firearms | 93
