Restoring Gun Rights, Lost Due To Mental Health Detentions (5150)
Why Do People Lose Their Gun Rights In California?
- They were convicted of a felony or certain misdemeanor crimes.
- They became the subject of a restraining order.
- They were detained for a mental health evaluation & determined to be a danger to themselves or to others.
If you have lost your guns rights in California, you may be eligible to request a court order to restore them. To determine your status, please follow the guidelines in this article and then contact us at 800-560-8000
Prepare to be interviewed and asked for dates, names and locations of the attorney that represented you, the county courthouse where your case was filed, the hospital or mental health facility where you were held, etc.
What You Should Do Before You Call for Legal Help
Gather every piece of paper concerning the case or event which resulted in the loss of your gun rights. Copies of court documents and letters or bills from the attorney who previously represented you in court, are particularly useful.
If we ask you send us documents and papers for review before a consultation, please either fax them to us at 909-864-5243, email them as a pdf file or if you prefer to send them by mail, please send only copies, not the originals, as the United States Postal Service is reliable, but not perfect, and items do occasionally get lost in the mail. The original documents may be needed in future court proceedings.
Prepare to be interviewed and asked for dates, names and locations of the attorney that represented you, the county courthouse where your case was filed, the hospital or mental health facility where you were held, etc.
If you lost your gun rights because you were detained for a mental health evaluation (also known as a "5150"), your discharge papers and bills from the hospital or mental health facility will also be of assistance in obtaining the medical records pertaining to your case.
If you were detained, assessed and admitted against your will to a mental health facility for psychiatric evaluation, which resulted in a determination that you were a danger to yourself or to others, California law strips you of your gun rights for five years.
If your initial mental health detention was not involuntarily extended beyond the initial 72 hours, you can petition the Superior Court for an order for the early termination of the five year loss of your gun rights, however, the California Welfare & Institutions Code states that you can only petition once.
Over the past 30 years, our firm has successfully handled numerous firearm rights restoration matters. Please contact our law office to consult with Mr. Colodny about restoring your firearm rights.