With all the talk about the Iowa Caucuses, we can’t, of course, forget about the important matters. It looks as if Britney Spears has been committed! Now, while I’m not one worry too much about whether celebrities live or die, I wouldn’t be particularly unhappy if we could end this huge national trauma by Britney offing herself.  But as Bitter was wondering earlier, can she even buy a gun?
It has now emerged that she is reportedly being held under a so-called “5150 hold” within a unit at Cedars Sinai hospital in Los Angeles, according to TMZ.com.
A “5150” order means staff believe there’s evidence she is a danger to herself or others. The California order allows a clinician or officer to involuntarily confine a person, and requires signs of mental disorder and/or grave disability.
5150 holds are observational, and thus don’t qualify you for a firearms prohibition under federal law, but California law is different. Under California law, you are not permitted to possess or purchase a firearm for a period of five years after your commitment, unless you request a special hearing to have your rights restored. Now, if it is determined that Britney is mentally disturbed, and the state decides to pursue a 5250 commitment, that is considered an involuntary commitment under federal law, and she would be barred for life (until HR2640 becomes law, that is, and there is a process for restoration of rights). California law doesn’t treat 5150 or 5250 commitments differently for the purposes of firearms possession.
Of course, that’s just the law. Would you sell that nutty woman a gun if you had a gun shop?  I wouldn’t either.
She’s still got money. She can hire someone to carry a gun for her.
I would sell her a gun. In a second.
Good question. I’ve always thought that if I transferred a long gun to someone FTF and there was anything sketchy about them, I’d call it off.
I have seen someone who seemed at least mildly drunk turned away in a gun shop. It was actually nice to see because it was a mom-and-pop store that probably needed the business, but he politely told the guy he wouldn’t sell to someone who’d been drinking.
I wouldn’t because of her kids.
The cops are even describing what she was doing last night as holding them hostage. They had to start negotiating with her to follow court orders. That’s probably a sign that she’s pretty damn far off her rocker if she was willing to hold the kids hostage.
If I had a gun shop, or a gun I’d be willing to part with, I wouldn’t sell it to her. It’s not a huge leap to assume she could off herself and take her sons with her if things continue to not go her way based on reports of what happened last night.
I saw that and was curious myself…not enough to actually go looking, but nice to see my gut feeling was right on this one.
Robb, she may have money now, but not for long, then she’s just another of “us.” You think a restraining order will stop that nutcase from youtube screaming “leave Brittany alone!” He’d skin her and have a new suit to dance in.
As you posted Robb, “A free America… means just this: individual freedom for all, rich or poor, or else this system of government we call democracy is only an expedient to enslave man to the machine and make him like it.”
If she’s so unstable she’ll either find another means to off herself, and if she wanted to her kids, just like the woman in Texas who drowned her kids. Sad but true.
I’d just like to add something for perspective. About a dozen years ago I had my now ex-wife called the police and told them I was going to kill myself or her. This was untrue and motivated from pure spite (I never threatened a person, especially her, in my life). The police arrived and were going to let me go on my way, until they realized I had a perfectly legal unloaded rifle behind the seat of my truck. I was detained under the infamous 5150 nad let out after two days (I got out a day early but they wouldn’t even talk to me for the first 24 hours). Throughout I was completely lucid and never made any comments about self-harm. So, while doing nothing wrong, breaking no laws and minding my own business, I have a 5150 in my past. Not only was this whole episode quite upsetting, it would of interfered with my shooting hobby had I not ended up leaving the country for a while (where I spent several years in the British army and later in Iraq where I got plenty of guns, but that’s a different story).
It’s a five year prohibition for people in California under 5150, but not a federal prohibition. But California is a shitty place to be a gun owner even if you’re not crazy.