I have a question
My 57 year old, mentally impaired son always had behavioral problems. . He would rant and rave, but he never hurt anyone. Several years ago he was arrested for brandishing a weapon when he fired a pistol into the air. He was put on house arrest for 6 months. Since we live in a rural state, we had several guns in our household. The Court ordered us to get all the guns out of the house which we did. Two years later he was again arrested for brandishing a weapon after he again threatened several people with a pistol. Unbeknownst to me he had purchased a .357 Magnum from a guy three miles down the road from us who knew him and knew he shouldn't have a gun. I explained my son's condition to his attorney, and the court agreed that he should undergo a psychiatric examination. In the meantime he would be incarcerated in the local regional jail. He was in jail for 6 months ( which only made his condition worse because he didn't understand why he was there) before he was actually sent to a facility for a forensic psychiatric examination. The doctors diagnosed him as being a paranoid schizophrenic and put him on the medication Abilify. He was released after six months, prescribed medication and allowed to come home. He was not charged with a crime. However after a while he quit taking his medication. He has this thing about drugs, and insists he doesn't "do drugs". We tried to explain that the doctor prescribed these meds, but he still didn't listen. During the time he was incarcerated and taking his meds the nurses said they wished they had a whole ward full of patients like my son. When he is off his meds he is an entirely different person- he yells, screams, talks to himself and others who aren't there. He lives in his own little world and his own reality. I tried to get him help, but was told he was an adult and free to make his own decisions. One day he got into a shouting match with a neighbor, and threw the neighbor's truck keys over the hill. The neighbor got a warrant for him for petty larceny. The warrant was never served, but I knew it existed. One day when my son was really in a state, I told him there was an existing warrant for his arrest. He didn't believe me, so I turned the car around and drove directly to the magistrates office where he was arrested. While he was being processed I spoke to the magistrate and told him that all I wanted was someone in authority to impress on my son the vital importance of taking his meds and the possible consequences if he doesn't. Well, to make a long story short, the state recommended a new psych exam. Since my son's crime was didn't involve violence or bodily injury, the judge dropped the charges on the condition that he seek psychiatric help and resume taking his meds. This my son did and he is now on Abilify Maintainence which involves going to the local health services for a monthly shot and counseling. Since my son receives a disability check every month he is eligible for a health card so he only pays about $8 a month for his shot. If he had to pay the full price it would cost him over $700 which be almost his entire check. Now I take him once a month for his shot and he seems to have rejoined the real world. I worry that these upcoming cuts under Trump may prevent him from getting his medications.
My son shouldn't be allowed to have a weapon, not only for the protection of others, but for himself as well. My questions is this- since my son was never officially convicted of a crime, would his name be in the national data base used for background checks?
= new reply since forum marked as read
I don't know the answer to your question. And it is a very important question. I do hope you get an answer. But your story is one that should be shared for so many reasons. Your concern about guns, the access to medical help, the whole journey.
Welcome to DU. 
