Today, Pres. Obama announced new executive orders on gun control designed to keep “mentally ill” people from buying guns – but, will they be used to prevent climate skeptics from buying firearms?

Under Obama’s new rules, doctors can now report people deemed “mentally ill” to the FBI so they can be denied gun licenses.

As the official White House fact sheet on the new gun control regulations states (emphasis added):

“Current law prohibits individuals from buying a gun if , because of a mental health issue, they are either a danger to themselves or others or are unable to manage their own affairs. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has indicated that it will begin the rulemaking process to ensure that appropriate information in its records is reported to NICS.”

If, as Pres. Obama has repeatedly claimed, climate change is a greater threat than terrorism , then aren’t people who deny the climate threat “a danger to themselves or others” and unfit to own guns?

The idea that climate skeptics are mentally ill is nothing new:

Oregon-based professor of "sociology and environmental studies" Kari Norgaard has declared climate skepticism a mental illness that must be “treated.”

Psychology Today published an article listing three warning signs that you are in “climate change denial”:

“You think climate change is bad, but not that bad. ” “You don’t have an emotional reaction to climate change.” “You aren’t getting political.”

Thus, if you don’t think the climate threat is great enough, or you’re not furious about it, or you’re not politically active in the climate fight, then you’ve got mental issues.

The Telegraph’s “Climate 'denial' is now a mental disorder” explains how so-call “eco-psychologists” convened at the University of the West of England in Bristol to explore classifying “climate change denial” as a “mental disorder.”

Nature.com published an article warning about high-carbon “addiction” (using central heating, etc.)

And remember when Obama's EPA Chief Gina McCarthy declared that climate skeptics aren’t “normal” people?

So, you might want to think twice before discussing the nearly two-decade pause in global warming with your doctor the next time you go in for your annual check-up.