I looked up the BATF form require for all firearms purchases from federally licensed firearms dealers (Form 4473). I should have reviewed this form prior to posting. It doesn’t ask the purchaser if he is or has been mentally ill. It asks if the purchaser has ever been ADJUDICATED as having a mental illness. I don’t know that to be the case.
Interestingly, the form defines this as any person who has been lawfully declared to be a danger to himself or others. This situation occurs routinely in this country, normally to suiicidal people. Somebody calls the cops because their friend or relative is suicidal. The cops evaluate the situation and maybe they decide to take the person into custody. Instead of taking them to jail, the cops take the detained person to a medical or psychological professional who further assesses the person. At that point, the detained person can be held up to 72 hours to ensure their safety, and longer if necessary after a court hearing.
There is no database entry for this temporary detention scenario, so it won’t show up in any background check. Obviously, I don’t know that this scenario applies to this guy. Even if it does, we will likely never know because of medical privacy laws.
Anyway, the bottom line is that I incorrectly recalled the wording on the federal government form and am setting the record straight.