PTSD diagnosed soldiers weapons confiscated.

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13Bravo

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Policy at Ft. Hood required my chain of command to confiscate my collection and store them in an on-post arms room till I get out of the army. This chapped my hide more than anything, ever.

I posted this question on another forum hoping for some insight on how I might get them back. I've been ordered no access to firearms or ammunition, but damn, shooting and cleaning had been my best therapy over the past 5 years.

Any insight would be appreciated.
 
PTSD is a mental diagnosis. Idk if you'll lose them when you get out too. Losing your rights to your weapons is Army SOP after that diagnosis.

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That's kinda jacked up ... I know when my wife had suicidal thoughts they made sure I locked up our guns, but they never confiscated stuff.
Maybe talk to your counselor about that? And tell them that it's therapy?
 
Sorry to hear about that. Some more info might be helpful.

1. What is your MOS?

2. When were you diagnosed with PTSD?

3. When is your EAS?

4. Are you getting a medical discharge?

5. Are you taking meds?

6. Are you in therapy?
 
This is why I waited til I got out to seek treatment from the VA for PTSD. I've had no issues purchasing new guns, and don't foresee any issues in the future.

AFAIK, a mental diagnosis alone is not enough to bar one from gun ownership. Even a voluntary stay at an in-patient mental health clinic does not bar one from firearms owndership. One must be judged mentally incompetant or involuntarily committed to an institution to lose their 2A protected rights.

You should be ok after you get out, if that is your plan, but I wouldn't be surprised if you lost firearms access on the job and on base until you get a clean bill of mental health from the base pysch.

'edit to add' If the military confiscated guns you were allowed to have on base in your assigned quarters, you may never see those again.
 
There are very few situations where I would recommend writing a letter to your congressman but this is one of those. I would request mast to the Commander and if he cannot or will not resolve the issue I would be writing a letter to the congressman from my home of record.

There are two arguments against the policy that would possibly interest your congressman about the issue. The first is the obvious issue of the Army arbitrarily confiscating personal property without due process. Contrary to what people on this forum may tell you; you do not surrender any of your constitutional rights by joining the military. You do agree to fall under the UCMJ, which is stricter than Civilian law, and you accept that there are limitations on free speech when you are in uniform (and only when you are in uniform) but you don't lose any rights. They can keep you from storing weapons on base if they deem that you are unfit to possess weapons on base but if you have an alternate storage solution off base or if you live off base then they do not have the right to confiscate personal property.

The other argument that needs to be made is about the stigma of seeking help for PTSD. We have been trying for several years to tell Marines and Soldiers that it is ok to admit that you have an issue and you need to seek help. If you start pulling crap like this then service members who have an issue stemming from PTSD they are not going to come forward and get help. You can't punish someone for seeking help and expect them to continue to self report their issues. If Congress is truly worried about making sure that we don't have a new generation of vets returning from war with psychological issues then they have an obligation to make sure that stupid policies like this get squashed as quickly and publically as possible in order to encourage service members to continue seeking help. As I have always told my guys; a Marine with an issue isn't an issue, he's a Marine. Deal with the issue, get back on line.
 
I would immediately go to speak with legal assistance. I absolutely think the Commander has ZERO right to order you to turn in your OFF POST guns. Now he can order you to stay on base away from your guns, and restrict you to post - but that would need to be periodically reviewed and for good reason.

I think he may have given you an unlawful order in violation of your medical rights and your 2A rights!!!
 
13Bravo said:
Policy at Ft. Hood required my chain of command to confiscate my collection and store them in an on-post arms room till I get out of the army. This chapped my hide more than anything, ever.

I posted this question on another forum hoping for some insight on how I might get them back. I've been ordered no access to firearms or ammunition, but damn, shooting and cleaning had been my best therapy over the past 5 years.

Any insight would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Yes - you HAVE posted this over in the 1911forum this past weekend, but here on THR you've omitted some key facts that you stated over there.

Over there you stated your weapons were NOT "confiscated" but that your immediate supervisors in your chain of command came to your off-duty residence and ASKED you to VOLUNTARILY surrender/give-up/ALLOW the base to store your personal weapons until your outdate/ETS - which you stated was less than 6 months out.

On the other forum, you stated that you VOLUNTARILY AGREED to this action because you knew that even though "they" didn't have control over your private/personal property OFF-BASE, that you knew that "you had to play the game" because - in fact - they COULD make your remaining military time more difficult (and that's true, they could)

Upon further queries from other "in the know" members on that forum, you stated that in fact not ONLY were your weapons "not confiscated" but you could go through the normal base process of putting a request "in-writing" to check-out your weapons for off-base use in accordance with their current rules and regulations - but you thought it was too much hassle and basically, wasn't worth the effort - especially since there was so much to do to get ready for your out-date/ETS less than 6months down the road.

You had a GREAT, lengthy, and detailed exchange of information over on the 1911 forum with very specific questions and answers - including some legal "solutions" and offerst to assist - to which (again) your reply was "it's easier just to play the administrative game for the last 6 months" while actively receiving treatment from both the base medical facility and the local Veteran's Hospital Behavioral Health unit.

edited to add the other discussion -

http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=307166
 
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That changes things a lot...although if you live off base you can still take your firearms back at any time. Storing your weapons in the armory if you live off base is voluntary.

Doesn't sound like your supervisors did anything wrong if they asked you to voluntarily give up your personal weapons. You could have, and probably should, have said no unless you believed that you were a threat to yourself or others.
 
Additional information for all....

Initially I withheld what I owned when they asked. Reg's didn't state I had to tell, that was without the behavior health stigma though. An ex-girlfriend helped me out there and simply made a phone call. I fessed up, fought it, went a little higher for confirmation on reg's, lost and invited my platoon sergeant over. We did a 20-62 and took them to an arms room. I respect my immediate chain of command and play the game for them for the most part, they have enough to put up with. That's not to say I'm not looking for an angle to get them back. I'm looking at another 6 months in service and that's just too damn long. Not having any luck in finding that angle yet though.

I'm off antiqueing for the day. Gonna go look at some cool old stuff. Enjoy the day.
Click to expand...

Always more to the story, eh?
 
This is exactly why I would not seek help and gave them all the answers they wanted to hear post-incident and post-deployment. I'm sorry to hear this is happening to you brother.

Talking to your Congressman or Senator was good advice given previously in this thread. If that doesn't help, maybe you have a friend who is a reporter?
 
This is exactly why I would not seek help and gave them all the answers they wanted to hear post-incident and post-deployment. I'm sorry to hear this is happening to you brother.
Click to expand...

I understand where you are coming from and I have seen a number of Marines do the same. This is wrong though. There should not be a stigma with seeking treatment for PTSD and that is something that we have worked very hard at DOD-wide for quite a while. No one has a truly bulletproof mind and PTSD is something can happen to anyone at any time if they get themselves in a specific situation that they didn't see coming and didn't prepare for but it can be fixed. We need to encourage service members that need help to get it so they can get back in the fight. Leaders, at all levels of the chain of command, need to learn to take care of their own. This whole situation smacks of bad leadership at the lowest level up to the base commander if that is indeed a base policy.
 
TORT

File a TORT claim it will speed things up and draw some attention to the command and question what specific authority and reasons they had to pressure you into turning your firearms in. And yes they will make your life a living hell if you had said no to the "voluntary "turn in. For those of you who have never serverd in the military.....it's whole different animal and saying NO can have a lot of uncomfortable ramifications. I spent 20 years in the suck and seen the game and played the game. It's going to be messy if you stay silent or speak up. It's a no win situation and you have to decide how much trouble you want to go through.:eek:
 
I retract my advice about the unlawful order, considering it appears it was a request and not an order, and the Servicemember complied voluntarily.
 
If diagnosed with a mental disorder it seems reasonable. I sure don't know your situation, but if a family member were going throught he same thing I would suggest professional therapy vs. shooting.
 
Can't completely agree with last poster.

Many many different levels of PTSD. Some gun shy, some depressed or both, some are adrenaline junkies to the extreme and some think there is an ambush around every corner. Some hear a gunshot and run/freeze and some run toward the shot to see whats going on. Unfortunately you are what Uncle Sam says you are for liability and streamlining the system purposes. Do you know that missing the comradery born under and in hostile environments is also a stresser of PTSD, not likely to make you go out and shoot up the town.
This animal is way to big to tame and don't think any of us have the creds to really make a real educated statement about it.

We're all experts when on the internet.:eek:
 
Thank you, Toforo.

After reading your reply here on THR I was at first a little ticked, started feeling a little defensive.

I cooled off a bit, went over to the 1911forum and did some reading. I hadn't realized there were some replies at the end I hadn't seen. Very informative ones, too.

I'm not going to quote everything I said over on the 1911forum, but dang, Toforo. My feelings are a little hurt. You seem to feel I've misrepresented myself, but I couldn't find in my 1911 thread where I volunteered anything except to help my CoC fill out paperwork and prepare them for storage, and I also couldn't find where I'd said I could sign out my guns and use them in accordance with blah, blah, blah. I can schedule an appt. to see them and maybe sweet talk a cleaning.

Yeah, I invited my CoC to my home to get them. That was out of respect to those individuals. They didn't want to, they were following orders.

Please check your facts before you chew a Soldier's ass, Toforo. You seemed to mince my replies with some others in that thread.

To THR members, thanks for the replies and info. This is my first reply on this thread, sorry for my pi$$ poor attitude
 
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