Report: Mental Health Team Chose Not to Commit Ian Long Earlier This Year

A mental health crisis team chose not to involuntarily commit Thousand Oaks gunman Ian David Long for mental health evaluation and treatment in April of this year.

CBS News reports the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office had numerous encounters with former Marine Ian David Long before he opened fire inside the Borderline Bar & Grill Wednesday night. Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean said they went to Long’s residence in April in response to a disturbance call. The Los Angeles Times reports that who went to Long’s house in April noted he  was “irate and acting irrationally.”

A “mental health crisis team was called at that time and concluded that Long did not need to be taken into custody.” The mental health team had the option to issue an order to have Long “held for up to 72 hours” if they recognized him as a threat to himself or others.

Breitbart News reported that Long killed 12 innocents Wednesday night, including Sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus. He used a legally owned .45 caliber Glock handgun to carry out his attack.

California has Gun Violence Restraining Orders, which are court orders that empower law enforcement to confiscate firearms from persons deemed a threat to themselves or others. The orders are issued after a family member or co-worker testifies to the danger they believe a person poses to himself or others.

Such orders were passed by California the legislature in 2014 and in early 2015 UCLA law professor Adam Winkler warned his fellow gun controllers not to get their hopes up, regarding the law’s effectiveness. Winkler told the National Journal that family members do not often recognize, much less report, a family member’s violent tendencies. Therefore, a Gun Violence Restraining Order is rarely triggered.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.