http://www.local6.com/orlpn/news/stories/news-197093520030211-140221.html
Investigation: Mentally Ill Receiving Gun Permits In Fla.
Posted: 3:20 p.m. EST February 11, 2003
The state of Florida has issued concealed weapons permits to applicants found mentally ill or institutionalized for drug or alcohol abuse, according to an exclusive Problem Solvers investigation.
The state's Division of Licensing spends more than $2 million a year administering the concealed weapons permit program, Local 6 News reported.
The licensing department does screen potential gun holder's criminal backgrounds "but when it comes to checking mental fitness, the state is blind," Problem Solver Tony Pipitone reported.
A database, created by the Problem Solvers, was used to identify people who were committed against their will. The findings were then compared to a list of Florida's 310,000 concealed weapon permit holders.
The comparison found 12 local concealed weapons permit holders who are ineligible because local judges comitted them to mental institutions or drug or alcohol treatment centers.
The report focused on one of the ineligible applicants, Dexter Thomas.
Thomas was diagnosed with acute psychotic disorder.
He reportedly carries a gun on Florida streets and believes he is a member of law enforcement.
"That particular individual (Thomas) is rather scary," John Russi of the Florida Division of Licensing said when Pipitone presented Thomas' case.
Pipitone asked, "Why is the state of Florida letting someone who is mentally ill carry a concealed weapon."
"Well, we wouldn't normally do that if we were aware of his mental history," Russi said.
Pipitone asked, "If we were able to find these (people), why couldn't the state of Florida find these."
"Clearly, we don't have the resources to do a complete background check of everybody to that extent," Russi said.
Local 6 News reported that Russi is now addressing how the state can develop a database like the one used in the story to identify ineligible applicants before they receive permits.
Also, the state is trying to pull the concealed weapons permits of people identified in the report.
VIDEO