Mixlesplick
Member
Ruling limits role of gun boards
Thursday, September 22, 2005
By John Tunison
The Grand Rapids Press
To the Ottawa County Gun Board, Joe Heindlmeyer was a time bomb they worried might explode.
As a 20-year-old in 1989, the Holland resident threatened to blow himself up with a homemade pipe bomb in a desperate act doctors attributed to clinical depression.
Those mental-health issues, which never reappeared, made him a risk for having a concealed handgun, the gun board told him three years ago in denying a concealed weapons permit.
Heindlmeyer, a longtime Allegan County reserve deputy who carries a service pistol while in uniform, fought back and insisted he posed no threat to anyone.
On Wednesday, the state Court of Appeals agreed with him and issued a ruling that further limits the discretion of gun boards statewide to decide who gets concealed weapons.
The court upheld an Ottawa County Circuit judge's 2004 decision that forced the gun board to give Heindlmeyer a permit.
James Simmons, an advocate for concealed-weapon carriers who represented Heindlmeyer in court, said the decision could have statewide implications.
"I would expect that gun boards would recognize if they want to try to deny someone a concealed weapon, they need to have their ducks in a row," Simmons said.
A state law passed in 2000 requires county gun boards to issue permits to those 21 and older unless the applicant has felony convictions, certain misdemeanor convictions or a history of mental illness.
At the time, gun-owner advocates hailed it as a step toward ending arbitrary decisions by gun boards that previously could deny permits for various reasons.
Simmons said Wednesday's court ruling further strengthens the position of concealed-weapon carriers who simply want personal security.
"Almost all of the criteria to get concealed-weapons permits now are objective," he said. "That's exactly how the Legislature intended it."
But the lawyer for Ottawa County, Doug VanEssen, described the ruling as a setback for gun boards trying to protect the public.
"You totally handcuff the discretion of the (gun) board members through this ruling," VanEssen said. "It effectively makes the board nothing more than a clerical function."
The Court of Appeals said the gun board failed to prove Heindlmeyer was a risk today.
"Although (Heindlmeyer) owns firearms, the board has presented no evidence to suggest that he has been irresponsible or otherwise unsafe with them," the panel wrote. "Most of the evidence presented indicated just the opposite."
Heindlmeyer, 36, could not be reached for comment.
He received treatment for mental-health problems in 1989 after symptoms of depression. At one point, in apparent disappointment over losing a Naval Academy scholarship and abandoning a dream to enlist in Navy special forces, he threatened to blow himself up with a pipe bomb.
Heindlmeyer, however, was not committed to a psychiatric hospital, and two mental-health professionals testified in 2004 he suffered from no mental illness.
Still, VanEssen, representing the gun board, said five mental- health professionals in 1989 and 1990 diagnosed Heindlmeyer as having a mental illness.
VanEssen argued research showed someone who suffered from any such illness has a chance of relapse if triggered by a traumatic event.
"It does not go away. It can be treated, but it remains there," he said.
The discretion to look objectively at mental-health issues was among the only areas of latitude left for gun boards. VanEssen questioned the need to have the required membership of sheriffs and prosecutors on county gun boards if they were to simply "rubber stamp" permits.
"What is the point of wasting their time?" he asked
The gun boards in Michigan are supposed to "rubber stamp" qualified applications for ccw. That is the whole point of the law. The only reason there are gun boards is to give the appearance that someone can protect the public from all us ccw'ers. It's time for Michigan to get rid of the gun boards. Besides, if the Sec. State takes over the licensing we will get better made licenses. Right now we have laminated paper licenses.
The gun board in my county grilled me for about twenty minutes because of something that didn't even disqualify me. I knew it didn't disqualify me or I wouldn't have wasted my money on the application. I gave short, to the point answers and refused to extrapolate. I didn't want to be refused a ccw and have to fight it in court like this guy did.
Oops, here's the link.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
By John Tunison
The Grand Rapids Press
To the Ottawa County Gun Board, Joe Heindlmeyer was a time bomb they worried might explode.
As a 20-year-old in 1989, the Holland resident threatened to blow himself up with a homemade pipe bomb in a desperate act doctors attributed to clinical depression.
Those mental-health issues, which never reappeared, made him a risk for having a concealed handgun, the gun board told him three years ago in denying a concealed weapons permit.
Heindlmeyer, a longtime Allegan County reserve deputy who carries a service pistol while in uniform, fought back and insisted he posed no threat to anyone.
On Wednesday, the state Court of Appeals agreed with him and issued a ruling that further limits the discretion of gun boards statewide to decide who gets concealed weapons.
The court upheld an Ottawa County Circuit judge's 2004 decision that forced the gun board to give Heindlmeyer a permit.
James Simmons, an advocate for concealed-weapon carriers who represented Heindlmeyer in court, said the decision could have statewide implications.
"I would expect that gun boards would recognize if they want to try to deny someone a concealed weapon, they need to have their ducks in a row," Simmons said.
A state law passed in 2000 requires county gun boards to issue permits to those 21 and older unless the applicant has felony convictions, certain misdemeanor convictions or a history of mental illness.
At the time, gun-owner advocates hailed it as a step toward ending arbitrary decisions by gun boards that previously could deny permits for various reasons.
Simmons said Wednesday's court ruling further strengthens the position of concealed-weapon carriers who simply want personal security.
"Almost all of the criteria to get concealed-weapons permits now are objective," he said. "That's exactly how the Legislature intended it."
But the lawyer for Ottawa County, Doug VanEssen, described the ruling as a setback for gun boards trying to protect the public.
"You totally handcuff the discretion of the (gun) board members through this ruling," VanEssen said. "It effectively makes the board nothing more than a clerical function."
The Court of Appeals said the gun board failed to prove Heindlmeyer was a risk today.
"Although (Heindlmeyer) owns firearms, the board has presented no evidence to suggest that he has been irresponsible or otherwise unsafe with them," the panel wrote. "Most of the evidence presented indicated just the opposite."
Heindlmeyer, 36, could not be reached for comment.
He received treatment for mental-health problems in 1989 after symptoms of depression. At one point, in apparent disappointment over losing a Naval Academy scholarship and abandoning a dream to enlist in Navy special forces, he threatened to blow himself up with a pipe bomb.
Heindlmeyer, however, was not committed to a psychiatric hospital, and two mental-health professionals testified in 2004 he suffered from no mental illness.
Still, VanEssen, representing the gun board, said five mental- health professionals in 1989 and 1990 diagnosed Heindlmeyer as having a mental illness.
VanEssen argued research showed someone who suffered from any such illness has a chance of relapse if triggered by a traumatic event.
"It does not go away. It can be treated, but it remains there," he said.
The discretion to look objectively at mental-health issues was among the only areas of latitude left for gun boards. VanEssen questioned the need to have the required membership of sheriffs and prosecutors on county gun boards if they were to simply "rubber stamp" permits.
"What is the point of wasting their time?" he asked
The gun boards in Michigan are supposed to "rubber stamp" qualified applications for ccw. That is the whole point of the law. The only reason there are gun boards is to give the appearance that someone can protect the public from all us ccw'ers. It's time for Michigan to get rid of the gun boards. Besides, if the Sec. State takes over the licensing we will get better made licenses. Right now we have laminated paper licenses.
The gun board in my county grilled me for about twenty minutes because of something that didn't even disqualify me. I knew it didn't disqualify me or I wouldn't have wasted my money on the application. I gave short, to the point answers and refused to extrapolate. I didn't want to be refused a ccw and have to fight it in court like this guy did.
Oops, here's the link.
