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Questions on commitments, possible penalties trip up gun buyers

When 66-year-old Henry Langer tried to buy a gun in January 2014 and was rejected after filling out a form for his background check, he recalled thinking to himself, "You must have done something wrong."

Langer said he enjoys the outdoors and likes to hunt and, although it's expensive, do some target shooting.

Langer said at the time he was rejected, he thought he needed to read up on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives form to figure out why -- considering he had no criminal record and didn't think there was any reason he should have been kept from buying a gun.

He petitioned the state police, which is responsible for maintaining the background check information system in Pennsylvania, to find out why his application to buy a gun was refused.

As it turns out, Langer spent three days in UPMC Altoona's mental health unit in 2013 after he was involuntarily committed. Langer said he didn't want to get into the details about what had happened, saying as of now, "Everything is quiet in my personal life."

He was released after three days and was told nothing was wrong with him, he said. Langer said he believed those three days spent in the hospital were for observation, which is an exception to the commitment question on the ATF gun form, along with anyone who voluntarily places himself or herself in a mental institution.

After he got the response from the state police, Langer said he was not happy his Second Amendment rights had been taken away during the 72 hours he spent in the hospital, but he said he had no idea what would come next.

"I thought that was the end of it," Langer, who lives in Coupon, said recently.

Then, in August of that year, a state trooper pulled in his driveway. He remembered it was about 4:30 p.m. on a Friday. The trooper was friendly, talked to him a few minutes and then retrieved a clipboard from his car and started asking Langer questions about his attempt to buy a gun. The trooper asked Langer if that was his signature on the form -- ATF Form 4473 -- and then gave Langer a date and time to appear at a district magistrate's office in Blair County.

Unsworn falsification

Langer said he was still not really sure what kind of trouble he was facing, but when he showed up and was arraigned, he found out he was facing a felony charge of unsworn falsification.

"I was confused," Langer said. So he asked what the charge was about.

"You lied on this form," he was told.

"But I didn't," Langer recalled responding.

Langer was charged because of his response to question 11f of the form, "Have you ever been adjudicated as a mental defective or have you ever been committed to a mental institution."

"I wasn't committed," Langer said. "I was held for observation."

What followed was what he called a "Byzantine experience" that caused him a lot of stress and cost him a lot of time and money as he tried to first deal with his criminal charges and then tackled the job of getting his involuntary commitment expunged.

Langer isn't alone. In the past two years, state police have filed nearly 200 charges stemming from the answers to background checks, according to Trooper Jeff Petucci of Troop G in Hollidaysburg.

Assistant Public Defender Julie Burke said a majority of the paperwork cases the Public Defender's Office handles are related to involuntary commitments, although people often get charged over the question about whether they have been convicted of a felony or "any other crime for which the judge could imprison you for more than one year."

Burke said it can be difficult for attorneys to know the statutory minimum jail sentence for charges, let alone a person not familiar with the law.

Most people know the punishment they received for a previous arrest and conviction, but rarely do they know what the law states they could have received.

"A lot of people had a case 20 years ago and paid a fine," Burke said. "They don't know what the statutory minimums were."

Burke recalled a case in which three lawyers were trying to figure out the minimum jail time for a misdemeanor charge because of questions on the grading of the offense.

Burke said she's never had anyone plead to the felony charge that comes out of the attempted gun purchases, with many people pleading to summary charge of disorderly conduct.

Sometimes it can be a misdemeanor and sometimes the case gets dismissed by a judge, she said.

Burke pointed out the involuntary commitment question is confusing for people who sometimes don't know they were committed involuntarily, because another exception to the question is anyone who entered a facility voluntarily.

It isn't always clear at the time to the person, and the bottom line is it is only a crime if a person knowingly lies on a gun purchase questionnaire.

"It's irresponsible to file these cases when there's not any evidence it was a knowing error," Burke said.

Burke said it seems illogical people would knowingly go to a gun shop and lie on a form to get a gun if they knew the background check would show they couldn't, especially if they've gone their whole life without any criminal charges against them.

Erasing record can be difficult

Attorney Stephen Wicks represents the county's mental health system and said there is often confusion about commitments to mental health facilities. Years after people have been in a facility, they often do not know whether they were voluntarily or involuntarily committed.

Wicks appears in court 10 to 12 times a year to oppose people who are trying to get their involuntary commitments taken off their record, something he said is difficult to do.

"Most of the commitments done are justifiable," Wicks said, adding the expungement procedure relies solely on the admitting physician's notes at the time of the commitment.

The law does not allow for the county to simply consent to the expungement: It's all based on the medical record.

"In a vast majority of these cases, in addition to saying, 'I didn't know it was involuntary," people will go to say there was nothing wrong with them. They deny being mentally ill, deny they were a risk to self or others. What gets lost is that there are people who can verify their need for committal," Wicks said.

Wicks said the issue is tough because it leads to questions about what else they may be hiding or what are their purposes for wanting a gun.

However, many people just don't understand or realize what happened, considering these events can be very emotional and confusing.

In both voluntary commitments and involuntary commitments, a person signs paperwork, which can give a person the idea they are doing it on their own accord.

If someone is suffering from serious mental illness, it can mean he or she really just doesn't know what is really happening, Wicks said.

"Those people are not lying when they say they don't know they were involuntary committed," Langer said.

Process important

While expungements are rare, Langer did have his commitment expunged.

He said he is waiting to make sure all pertinent agencies have his expungement order before he buys a gun, just so there aren't any more problems.

Langer's attorney, Doug Keating, said he attacked Langer's commitment two ways.

First, Keating argued to the court that there was insufficient evidence Langer was seriously mentally deficient at the time. Second, he challenged the process of Langer's commitment.

"How I was able to help Henry was, they didn't follow the proper procedure," Keating said.

When a municipal police officer arrived at his home with ambulance personnel, the officers did not have any paperwork authorizing them to take Langer with them to hospital.

Keating said it was a family squabble, and Langer believed it was wrong he was committed and wrong he could not now buy a gun.

Keating said his client won because the case makes it clear that the process is important and that it was a violation of Langer's right to due process to take him from his home and only produce the required paperwork later on at the hospital.

"You have to wonder how many people are really aware of that," Keating said.

Langer said he considered it a "backdoor law" to take away people's Second Amendment rights and that someone who is truly mentally ill and wants to do harm won't try to buy a gun at a gunshop but get it through other means. He said it changed his view of the system, but he feels good having regained his rights.

Try to resolve cases

Blair County District Attorney Richard Consiglio said his office looks at the charges that come out of gun purchase paperwork on a case-by-case basis. Still, prosecutors don't usually withdraw charges but do try to resolve the cases one way or another, often with the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program. Occasionally, if it's an egregious case, they'll take it to trial.

"It's a crime, and they are subject to penalties," Consiglio said, adding that it's important that in these cases that prosecutors have as much information as possible so they can make an informed decision. After all, it's not always easy to determine someone's intentions, he said.

Consiglio said he does think there is some confusion about some of the questions, which is why it is even more important to have a thorough police investigation to ascertain the situation and the person's criminal and mental history.

"We don't want to prosecute people who it appears legitimately made a mistake," Consiglio said. "And people also need to be more careful when filling out the form."

Logan Township Police Chief Tim Mercer, who during his 27-year career as a state trooper investigated these cases, said being thorough is the key to ensure the prior criminal or mental health information that came up during the background check is accurate. He said it's important to look at the question and what was misrepresented on the form.

"We try to take into consideration some of the questions," Mercer said. "They may have misunderstood."

Mercer said the state police used to handle all these types of investigations but recently approached the local municipal police departments to relieve the caseload.

Every year, there are more gun purchases, so that means more cases involving paperwork misrepresentations.

"We anticipate getting quite a number of these because we have quite a number of gun shops in the township," Mercer said.

Mercer suggested people take their time, read the forms carefully and if in doubt, consider consulting an attorney before signing their name and trying to buy a gun.

"Because of the severe consequences, I would definitely take your time," Mercer said.

Mirror Staff Writer Greg Bock is at 946-7458.