With a brand
new training certificate in hand I entered the Hennepin County Sheriff’s
Building and took the white marble stairwell down to room 22. The man behind the bullet proof window
received my certificate, driver’s license, a completed application and
$100. He made copies then casually asked
how many people attended my carry class.
“Fifteen” I
responded.
He smiled and
handed me my receipt. “This is not a
permit to carry. It takes 30 days for
approval. Don’t carry until you get it in the mail.”
“Understood.
Thanks.” That took all of two
minutes. The entire process was easy
although it set me back $211. My
criminal background check came back clean.
The carry permit, which also serves as a permit to purchase, arrived in
the mail two weeks later.
.
. .
The Minnesota
Personal Protection Act (PPA) specified the two-part process I followed to
legally carry a gun in Minnesota. First,
I gave my County Sheriff “evidence” of training in safe handling from a
“certified” instructor. Second, my
Sheriff performed a criminal background check.
Minnesota is
a shall issue state meaning the Sheriff has no discretion to deny my permit
without demonstrating a “substantial likelihood” that I pose a danger to myself
or others. Even if I was denied, I could hire an attorney and appeal it. But that wasn’t necessary. My permit was approved without so much as a welfare
check. No one contacted my spouse or my
doctor.
Had the
County taken that one extra step, it would have learned about my diagnosis and
treatment at the Minneapolis V.A. for depression, PTSD and substance abuse
stretching as far back as 1992. Without hesitation
my wife would have informed them my medical record contains a V.A. psychiatrist
note recommending I “never own another gun.”
Taken together
this seems to rise to a level of “substantial likelihood.”
But the
decision is binary under the current law.
There is no middle ground where I can maintain a reasonable expectation of
privacy and at the same time protect myself when I’m healthy from times when I
am not. This is a common blind spot appearing
in legislation throughout the US and it affects a lot of good people with
diagnosis like mine.
Sheriff
Departments conducting criminal background checks haven’t the legal authority nor
the existing infrastructure to query private psychiatric records for specific
information that, when compared alongside records for court ordered treatment, meet
or exceed the legal litmus for “substantial likelihood.” This dilemma is further complicated by
Federal mandates (HIPPA Act) requiring health insurers and healthcare providers
safeguard patient information.
But debating the
supremacy of public policy versus my civil rights is of little use for the
moment because for the next five years I can walk into any FFL storefront in
Minnesota and walk out with a semi-automatic pistol, high capacity magazines
and all the ammunition I can afford.
How many
permit holders are there just like me in Minnesota? That’s impossible to tell. The Centers for Disease Control reports that each year 6.7% of
U.S. adults 18 or older experience major depressive disorder. “Nearly
two out of three people suffering from depression do not actively seek nor
receive proper treatment (DBSA, 1996).”
Doing the
math, Minnesota can expect, with pretty high confidence, that thousands of the
more than 200,000 citizens with permits to purchase - as many as 8900 - will
experience a major depressive disorder this year. And like me, they won't appear on the Sheriff’s
radar. Unlike me, they don’t actively
seek or receive treatment.
