Does "past" alcohol addiction bar you from owning firearms

Was your friend diagnosed with an alcohol addiction? Just because you drink a lot and/or participate in an alcohol treatment program doesn't mean you have a medical addiction.

I wondered the same thing some time ago, but the ATF cares about what is legally considered a drug, not what is medically considered a drug. "Controlled substance" has specific legal meaning, i.e. the Controlled Substances Act.

Gouranga, I have been in recovery since '88 & I always answer no to that question. I did not have to go through detox although I did get some professional help for a while in an outpatient group. So I do not know if they could find some way to use that against him. I really doubt they have records of everyone that has ever been detoxed in the database. If he hasn't been in any legal trouble I don't think he would have a problem. Of course I am not a lawyer so that is just my opinion.

As far as knowing a person will stay sober for a long while. Personally I believe I have a daily reprieve contingent on my spiritual condition. If I don't practice principles I've learned I might not.

Legally, based on what you have described, no, I can't see any legal reason he would be barred.

However, I would feel better if his troubles were ten years ago rather than two. In my experience helping friends through recovery, the process never goes smoothly.

Absolutely, positively, NO, it does not! This is exactly what the statist totalitarians would like you to both believe, and feel, is necessary. Its also a prime reason for some well founded suspicions of Obamacare, where the state has access to YOUR medical records....Addiction to a substance is not a crime, millions of functioning people have them, including both military & police....

Given he went to that facility (voluntarily, it was not court ordered or anything), there is a paper trail to prove it.

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Despite what you see on CSI: XXX, the government does not have some all-knowing database that can pull up every conceivable record on everyone on earth. Chances are, if he was not arrested for a felony, or misdemeanor domestic violence, etc, his NICS will be approved. If the NICS is approved, he is good to go. As for his medical records, the NICS system does not have access to private medical records, so unless he was deemed mentally defective in a court of law, it will not be on public record.

Gouranga,

I'm a recovering alcoholic, haven't had a drink since June 20, 1984. I was in treatment 3 times before I surrendered. I don't believe there is anything to keep him from procuring a firearm, no matter if he, or a doctor determined his alcoholic tendencies. After my third trip into treatment, I saw a psychiatrist for two years, best thing to ever happen to me. Now, 4 months ago, I bought a pistol, since then, I bought an older .22 rifle, no police or federal's have beaten my door down, nor was there any problems when I filled out all forms concerning the purchase of either. As far as where his residence is, I don't feel this has anything to do with his mental well being, nor his wanting to drink again. I can attest to one thing only, just because I quit, its still known to me as alcohol-ISM , not WASM. Hope this helps, and your friend and his family will be in my prayers.

Past addictions is to controlled substances.

In Georgia there is a required waiver process for someone who's been hospitalized as an inpatient in any mental hospital or alcohol or drug treatment center within the five years immediately preceding the application for a weapons license, but I'm not aware of any purchase/ownership restriction.

The FBI NICS database only has data on court-ordered adjudications, convictions, etc. If your buddy was never hauled in front of a judge and ordered to go to treatment, there is no record of him in the court system - and thus no flag in NICS.

IIRC a few years back the anti's were pushing to have folks who voluntary sought treatment for addictions or mental disorders declared "prohibited persons", and they ran smack up against HIPPA and slapped down.

NMGonzo,

Not to attempt to derail this thread. It has been in my education of this disease, alcohol, marijuana, or whatever the drug of choice: Anything that is mood or mind altering is a drug, plain and simple!

788Ham;

In this instance it is more a matter of what is legally defined as an illegal, addictive, altering drug.

The term "drug" actually has a much broader definition than you give it. In the medical field even oxygen (O2) is considered a drug. Same with Glucose (the same stuff in candy bars). Nicotine is a drug, but it is legal, therefore even if you are addicted to it you are not barred from purchasing firearms.

Just trying to clarify.

hes good to go one of my sponsee's became a cop 5 years sober and he was totally candid in the hiring process.

One of the great questions of the ATF form. Do you ILLEGAL use any controlled substance etc.

If you have a script for Xanx answer is no, If you live in cali and have a medical card that doesn't bar you from owning a gun either because even though its illegal in other states where u live its okay. Things like being a felon, beating your wife, domestic violence etc. will get you denied though

As far as I know, if he hasnt committed any felonies related to his addiction, they wont know any more than he tells them.

As far as I know, if he hasnt committed any felonies related to his addiction, they wont know any more than he tells them.

Very bad advice and not true.

While with a medical marijuana card the use of marijuana may be legal under California law (and the laws of several other States), under federal law marijuana is a Schedule 1 controlled substance and may not be lawfully prescribed. Therefore anyone using marijuana is an unlawful user of a controlled substance, and therefore a prohibited person, under federal law.

So anyone in California (or another State with a medical marijuana law) who uses marijuana under a medical marijuana card may be okay under state law, but if he has a gun in his possession, he is committing a federal felony.

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Great advice i just assumed that, i don't and shall never live in the Republic of California. That being said i figured since its not Illegal because its actually Legal but i guess not on a federal level. But doesn't the state makes up its own gun laws such as NY you need a permit to have a pistol in your home? Alot of people are on legal controlled substances the only thing that makes it legal is the doctor is giving you a script and not a drug dealer......... its illegal when you don't have a script or a pill bottle or w.e

Also this tow truck driver was telling me if your father is a felon the ATF looks at you closer....

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HelterSkelter said:

seeing as alcohol is not a drug that causes a physical or psychological need such as nicotine or heroin it shouldn't be called addiction. you can no more be addicted to alcohol than you can be addicted to hamburgers, you can like them a lot and lack the power of will to quit eating them but it's not an addiction.

you can adopt alcohol as a way of dealing with stress, a crutch as some call it, and this forms a habit which is hard to break but it is not an addiction. you treat the causes of stress and the things that cause you to want to drink when helping an "alcoholic" not the drug itself like with addictive substances.

as someone close to finishing their masters in psychology it bothers me when someone calls it "alcohol addiction".

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This is incorrect, alcohol can in fact become highly physically addictive.
So much so that someone that is abruptly taken off of it after their body adjust to a constant supply in their system and is not treated with drugs can die!
That is about as serious as you can define a physical addiction to something.
It takes a serious drinker to be that physically addicted, well beyond the level that will destroy the liver over a longer period of time, but the body can adjust its body chemistry to actually need alcohol when it is constantly present long enough.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delirium_tremens

Unlike the withdrawal syndrome associated with opiate dependence, DT (and alcohol withdrawal in general) can be fatal.
Mortality was as high as 35% before the advent of intensive care and advanced pharmacotherapy; in the modern era of medicine, death rates range from 5-15%.

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So alcohol interestingly enough can be fatal both from abruptly ceasing to use it, and from continuing to use it too often (typically liver damage.)
While giving some health benefits to relatively uncommon use (less than typical "occasional" use.)

you can no more be addicted to alcohol than you can be addicted to hamburgers, you can like them a lot and lack the power of will to quit eating them but it's not an addiction.

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Using a substance to cope, escape, or otherwise have some altered state of mind out of a sense of regular necessity could be viewed as a psychological dependence, an addiction.
Certainly I would agree addiction is a term overused in our society, and now someone can be an addict of almost anything, and as a term is certainly biased when legislatively defined (which is why someone that uses an illegal drug a few times or even once can be considered an "addict" that needs treatment while someone prescribed a variant of the same thing that they use daily and that they are actually dependent on is not.)

Certainly alcohol is not as psychologically addictive to the extent of some other illegal and legal drugs but it is still a psychological addiction when used regularly as a crutch.