imported post
wylde007 wrote:
So is this a good bill or not? I honestly can't tell.
Does it give the involuntarily committed and convicted criminals additional recourse to have their rights restored?
It almost seems like an FOIA thing, but I don't read legalese so much good.:?
I don't like it. Gives a gun-hating Commonwealth's Attorney the opportunity to come into court and allege the petitioner is "troubled" or is unfit.
This authority is inserted in 3 different code sections. The one that really causes concern is §
18.2-308.1:3.:
Purchase, possession or transportation of firearm by persons involuntarily admitted or ordered to
outpatient treatment; penalty.
That has to do with the reaction to the Cho massacre. So, YOU could be ordered to outpatient treatment because someone alleged you're troubled. Later, when you're discharged, you would like to get your weapons back. You petition the court, the Commonwealth's Attorney shows up, and declares to the court it would be too risky for YOU to get your arsenal back.
You lose.
Wait, there more. This actually
happened:
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/153661
College paper has bad ending
A UVa-Wise student said he has been expelled, but a college official wouldn't confirm it.
By Mike Allen
981-3236
A student who turned in an "alarming" creative writing assignment referencing suicide and the Virginia Tech shooter was involuntarily committed, then expelled from the University of Virginia's College at Wise after campus police found loaded guns in his car.
The student, Steven Daniel Barber, 23, of Gate City, said his short story was meant to be taken as fiction exploring a topic relevant to current events.
"I didn't intend to threaten anybody with it," he wrote Friday in an e-mail in which he said he had been expelled from the school. Though he violated a campus firearms policy by having the guns in his car, he owned them legally, he said.
College Vice Chancellor Gary Juhan, who would not confirm the expulsion, said the school took seriously the concerns raised by the content of the student's paper.
"One of the most impossible things to do is predict human behavior," he said.
In Scott County, where Barber lives,
Commonwealth's Attorney Marcus McClung petitioned Tuesday to suspend Barber's permit to carry a concealed weapon. Judge Tammy McElyea approved the suspension Wednesday, citing that Barber had been involuntarily committed.
McClung said Friday that based on Barber's story and the report from campus police, the petition appeared justified.
"We just thought it was the safe and prudent thing to do," he said. McClung also said that Barber can appeal the suspension.