The Concealed Pistol Licensing Act, MCL 28.421 et seq, does not confer on a county concealed weapon licensing board the power to make its own medical diagnosis of mental illness in the course of determining an applicant's eligibility for licensure under that act. However, a county concealed weapon licensing board has the authority to review records and other evidence in the course of fulfilling its responsibility to determine whether an applicant for a concealed pistol license has been diagnosed with a mental illness at the time the application is made.
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The powers vested in the Board are described in the Act. Among these is the power to investigate an applicant to determine eligibility under the Act. MCL 28.425a(7). The Board is further authorized to access an applicant's medical and mental health records to aid in the eligibility determination.1 The Board is to determine whether the applicant has a "diagnosed mental illness at the time the application is made." Nowhere in the Act is the Board granted the power to make its own diagnosis of mental illness, nor can any such power be reasonably inferred from those expressly granted.
While your question does not present a specific factual situation, three possible factual scenarios nevertheless emerge from the context of your question. Those include a case where a diagnosis of mental illness has been made by a health professional, a case where such a diagnosis has not been made, and a case where the existence of a diagnosis at the time the application is made is subject to a good faith factual dispute. If the evidence before the Board clearly establishes that the applicant has "a diagnosed mental illness at the time the application is made," the Board is bound by that determination. Likewise, if the evidence before the Board establishes that the applicant does not have a diagnosed mental illness at the time the application is made, the Board is bound by that circumstance.
Where the existence of an actual diagnosis is debatable, however, the Board has the responsibility under section 425b(7) to resolve that question.2 For example, if medical records indicate that an applicant suffers from symptoms consistent with a mental disorder but those records do not definitively resolve whether a diagnosis has been made, a question arises whether the Board may properly reach the requisite determination that the applicant "does not have a diagnosed mental illness." In this instance, while the Board members would be without authority to formulate their own diagnosis, the Board has the authority to further investigate the matter to resolve that question. MCL 28.425a(7).
It is also worth noting that the Board must deny a license to an applicant where, although the person has not been diagnosed with a mental illness at the time the concealed pistol license application is made, the Board has determined, based on clear and convincing evidence, that issuing the license is detrimental to the safety of the applicant or any other individual. MCL 28.425b(7)
. In addition, even if an applicant does not have a diagnosed mental illness at the time the application is made, if that person has ever been found to be guilty but mentally ill of any crime, has offered a plea of not guilty of, or been acquitted of, any crime by reason of insanity, or has been the subject of an order of involuntary commitment due to mental illness, the application must be denied. MCL 28.425b(7)(j) and (k). Moreover, before issuing a license, the Board must determine that the applicant is not the subject of an order or disposition under section 464a of the Mental Health Code, MCL 330.1464a. MCL 28.425b(7)(d)(i). Further, if the applicant "has been adjudicated as a mental defective" or been committed to a mental institution, federal law prohibits that person from possessing a firearm, 18 USC 922 (g)(4), and the application should be denied.
It is my opinion, therefore, that the Concealed Pistol Licensing Act, MCL 28.421 et seq, does not confer on a county concealed weapon licensing board the power to make its own medical diagnosis of mental illness in the course of determining an applicant's eligibility for licensure under that act. However, a county licensing board has the authority to review records and other evidence in the course of fulfilling its responsibility to determine whether an applicant for a concealed pistol license has been diagnosed with a mental illness at the time the application is made.
