Civil Liberties

In FL, NRA Joins Effort To Block Gun Sales to the Mentally Ill

They're going to disarm government employees?

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TALLAHASSEE | In a twist on Florida's usual gun control debate, the nation's pre-eminent gun rights group is defending a bill aimed at keeping firearms from some people with mental illness.

The National Rifle Association is urging Gov. Rick Scott to sign a measure overwhelmingly approved this spring by state lawmakers that would expand the definition of mentally ill Floridians prohibited from buying a gun or obtaining a concealed weapons permit.

That puts the NRA, which helped write the bill and shepherd it through the Legislature, in the rare position of criticizing — and being attacked by — another gun rights group.