After he fired six shots in his home -- aiming at rats, he said --76-year-old Thomas Judd of Tampa was “Baker Acted,” taken to a crisis center for an involuntary mental health examination. As usual, he was found to be suffering from schizophrenia. His guns were taken away.
But now Judd has his guns back, after a proceeding in Hillsborough Circuit Court, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Florida law prohibits someone who has been involuntarily committed to a mental institution from buying a gun, but there is no penalty for someone who is held less than 72 hours under the Baker Act.
Meanwhile in Miami-Dade, a judge has ordered administrators from Jackson Memorial and the state-contracted mental-health agency to explain why a man who was found incompetent to stand trial was placed in an assisted-living facility, where he promptly escaped, the Miami Herald reports.