U.S. Appeals Court Deems Gun Law Unconstitutional

U.S. Appeals Court Deems Gun Law Unconstitutional

A federal appeals court in Cincinnati deemed a gun law unconstitutional which kept a Michigan man who being committed to a mental institution from owning a gun.  The three-judge panel of the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously ruled that a federal ban on gun ownership for those who have been committed to a mental institution violated the Second Amendment rights of 73-year old Clifford Charles Tyler.  Tyler attempted to purchase a gun but was denied on the grounds that he was committed to a mental institution in 1986.  He was there for a month.  He had suffered emotional problems stemming from a divorce.  Tyler's lawyer, Lucas McCarthy, hopes this will have an impact on the jurisprudence on gun ownership rights.  This ruling is the first by a federal court to rule that a gun ownership law was unconstitutional since 2008.  Federal law prohibits gun ownership to convicted felons, illegal immigrants, drug addicts, and those ordered by a court to a  mental institution.  The law also says that those whose disqualifying disabilities have ended must be proven before owning a firearm legally.  To read the full story, click on the above link from FoxNews.com.