Although if I recall correctly, Clinton used "mentally challenged" which for her purposes wasn't a felicitous use of terms either, since being mentally challenged, for example, having low IQ or cognitive deficits, does not imply (necessarily) violent behavior. I would have preferred her using some other term to describe restrictions based on psychiatric conditions.

Sen. Barack Obama on Thursday suggested he doesn't see any point in having another debate with Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Clinton. ... .. "I'll be honest with you, we've now had 21," he said. "It's not as if we don't know how to do these things. I could deliver Sen. Clinton's lines; she could, I'm sure, deliver mine."

"mentally interesting".

I love that term.  Aren't we all, yes?

If you get a chance, visit the site.  It's very down to earth, humorous at times, sympathetic to others who are mentally ill (or have migraine disease like I do which is treated with some overlapping epilepsy, SSRI, etc drugs) and gives information about drugs from the standpoint of folks who have actually had to use them on a very serious basis.

Also, I've had several mentally ill family members and I do see mental illness as a mental ILLNESS, so I actually like the term....or how about a more concise term, which is "physical illness of the brain".  And here, I would use "physical" in the physics sort of way, because most brain disorders such as mental illness stem from brains that literally don't fire their electrical -- or chemical -- signals properly.

Your first link quotes him as saying that guns should be kept away from those mentally deranged, not all people who are mentally ill.

VII.         The Assault Weapons Ban and Related Import Restrictions

        In September 1994, Congress passed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act which made it unlawful, with certain exceptions, to manufacture, transfer, or possess semiautomatic assault weapons. Congress had been presented with significant evidence demonstrating that these weapons were "the weapons of choice among drug dealers, criminal gangs, hate groups, and mentally deranged persons bent on mass murder,"(7)and concluded these guns were so dangerous they had no place in the civilian marketplace. The 1994 Act also made it unlawful to possess or transfer large capacity ammunition feeding devices, generally defined as a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

Federal law prohibits anyone who has been "adjudicated as a mental defective," as well as those who have been involuntarily committed to a mental health facility, from buying a gun.

In my opinion "deranged" (BO) is closer than "challenged" (HRC).

I wouldn't be surprised if this, like the death with dignity stuff, is an example where BO is actually the more detailed and correct policy wonk when compared to HRC.  But, don't worry HRC supporters, the MSM will never challenge the propaganda that HRC is the policy expert with experience, never mind actual accomplishments.

While I appreciate that this a legal blog and many here are attorneys, citing statutes that employ the same language does not make it better.

I'm pretty sure that someone who was mentally deranged could walk into a gun store to purchase a weapon, but would not, in the throes of "derangement" be likely to be sold anything.

So, what's the proper way to describe someone who should probably never be sold a weapon that could kill?  

Mentally ill is too broad - I think that is a term that could be applied to the millions of people on anti-depressants, for example, or the millions who have anxiety-panic disorder, or who are bi-polar, or obsessive-compulsive.  Are these people deranged?  

I agree that "mentally deranged" is not the right term - "mentally ill" is closer, but too broad.  

Mental disorders are common in the United States and internationally. An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older -- about one in four adults -- suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year.1 When applied to the 2004 U.S. Census residential population estimate for ages 18 and older, this figure translates to 57.7 million people

Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America

I do not feel that Obama is a bad person, not at all.  (The McClurkin affair leaves many lingering questions as to his range of understanding and the lengths of his compassion for gay people, however.)