Fox News
A decorated retired New York cop who served in the U.S. Navy, Donald Montgomery was the owner of four guns -- a Colt .38 handgun, a Derringer .38, a Glock 26 9-mm. and a Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 380.
His troubles started when he visited a Long Island hospital in May complaining of insomnia. He was discharged with a diagnosis of “depression, insomnia” and then returned a short time later for a 48-hour stay. The lawsuit says that during that visit, staff erroneously listed him as an “involuntary admission,” triggering the SAFE Act reporting provision. Those deemed at-risk for owning guns by mental health professionals have to be reported and their names entered into a database.
The lawsuit claims Montgomery should not have been reported because he was not a threat to himself or others. The suit says a hospital psychiatrist told him “You don’t belong here” and “I don’t know why you were referred here.”
The Daily Caller reports that on May 30, a week after his hospital stay, Suffolk County sheriff’s deputies confiscated Montgomery’s guns. His pistol license was then suspended in June and revoked three months later.
Montgomery is demanding in his lawsuit that the state issue written notification to all individuals whose names have been collected in the SAFE Act database.
Last month, the Syracuse Post-Standard found nearly 39,000 names in the database and that 278 of those were gun owners who were in danger of losing their firearms. The list of 278 included 16 in Suffolk, where Montgomery lived.
Big deal. If a mistake was made about the voluntary nature of his hospitalization, the courts should straighten it out. That's if there's nothing more to the story. The Fox News headline left out the depression part and in their typical mendacious way, mentioned only insomnia. The real question was down to whether it was a voluntary or involuntary commitment.
But what struck me is where were all the tough-talking 2nd Amendment protectors when this guy's guns were taken? I keep hearing how they will never let this happen. Were there none of them in Suffolk County?