http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/ne...8-1506795.html

Revoking permits not an easy chore
By JO CIAVAGLIA
Bucks County Courier Times

The Bucks County Sheriff's Office can immediately revoke a concealed weapons permit if someone is involuntarily committed for mental health reasons, but it can't automatically confiscate the person's weapon.

No one can without a court order.

But the only way law enforcement can secure a court order is if evidence exists a crime occurred, according to the county District Attorney's Office.

About one quarter of the 75 to 100 gun permits the county revokes each year are for residents who were involuntarily committed or otherwise judged mentally defective, Bucks Sheriff Duke Donnelly said.

For the last few years, state and other county police departments have forwarded copies of involuntary mental commitments — known as 302 proceedings— involving Bucks residents to the sheriff's office, Donnelly said.

People who've been involuntarily committed to a mental hospital cannot buy guns. In Bucks County, about 1,200 involuntary commitments occur each year. A person is involuntarily committed when their behavior presents a clear danger to themselves or others.

When the sheriff's office receives 302 notifications, the names are checked against concealed weapon records to see if the person has an active permit to carry, which is good for five years, Donnelly said.

If a match is found, the permit is immediately revoked, Donnelly said. A permit application would also be rejected.

But a civil judgment of mental defectiveness alone doesn't stop someone from owning guns he or she bought legally beforehand.

“Being involuntarily committed through the Mental Health Act is not evidence of a crime,” First Assistant District Attorney David Zellis said. The District Attorney's Office doesn't get involved with civil matters.

But it appears mental illness and crimes often are connected. Three of the four domestic violence-related murders in 2005 involved suspects with documented mental health issues, meaning they had a medical diagnosis and were under treatment, according to a recent Bucks County Domestic Violence Review Commission report.

In two of the four cases, there was evidence the suspects previously sought voluntary treatment in a mental hospital, said Zellis, the commission chair. Also two of the victims were shot to death.

Bristol Township resident Sandralee Banks-Kastrup, 40, is in Bucks County prison awaiting a preliminary hearing on charges of threatening and vandalizing St. Michael the Archangel church in Tullytown in February.

She allegedly introduced herself as a demon to the church's pastor, wrote threatening letters to the parish and carved lewd words into the church doors and a petition book, according to court documents.

Following her Feb. 22 arrest, Banks-Kastrup was involuntarily committed to the psychiatric unit at Lower Bucks Hospital, where she remained until last week when her husband signed her out.

Family members said at a recent court hearing that Banks-Kastrup's erratic behavior led them to confiscate her .380-caliber handgun and turn it over to local police for safe-keeping. They said police discovered that the gun was loaded and five bullets had family members' initials carved into them.

Banks-Kastrup had a permit to carry the gun, but it expired in 2006, Donnelly confirmed. State police maintain a database of Pennsylvania residents who are involuntarily committed or who the court has deemed mentally defective. The information is used for background checks when people buy a gun in the state. Pennsylvania does not require a permit to buy a gun.

The Bucks County Mental Health and Mental Retardation department is required to notify state police of involuntarily commitments to mental health units, but that is the extent of its involvement, head administrator Philip Fenster said.

“That is a good point — someone can get 302'd after they buy a gun and what happens?” Fenster said. “If they got a gun before the 302, I don't know” what happens.

Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at 215 949-4181 or jciavaglia@phillyBurbs.com.