Armes à feu et maladie mentale: les limites du deuxième amendement

Un homme souffrant de schizophrénie, traité en institution et médicamenté peut-il posséder des armes à feu? Oui. Même si la police a pu saisir les armes de l'individu qui menaçait de tuer sa mère si on s'emparait de ses armes, il semble qu'il pourra bientôt en reprendre possession. Une autre délicate question dans le débat entourant le contrôle des armes à feu.

 "The Russo case highlights a central, unresolved issue in the debate over balancing public safety and the Second Amendment right to bear arms: just how powerless law enforcement can be when it comes to keeping firearms out of the hands of people who are mentally ill.

 Connecticut’s law giving the police broad leeway to seize and hold guns for up to a year is actually relatively strict. Most states simply adhere to the federal standard, banning gun possession only after someone is involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility or designated as mentally ill or incompetent after a court proceeding or other formal legal process. Relatively few with mental health issues, even serious ones, reach this point.

 As a result, the police often find themselves grappling with legal ambiguities when they encounter mentally unstable people with guns, unsure how far they can go in searching for and seizing firearms and then, in particular, how they should respond when the owners want them back.

 “There is a big gap in the law,” said Jeffrey Furbee, the chief legal adviser to the Police Department in Columbus, Ohio. “There is no common-sense middle ground to protect the public.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/22/us/when-the-right-to-bear-arms-includes-the-mentally-ill.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131222&_r=0