Guns & mental illness: a good mix?

Many centuries ago in The Republic, Plato raised the question of whether it would be just to return a weapon to neighbor showing signs of mental illness.  An article in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune raises this same question.  Courts have recently ruled in favor of the gun rights of individuals with a history of serious mental illness.  Do such decisions recklessly and needlessly endanger the public (and perhaps the ill person)?  Or do those with a history of mental illness have a right to defend themselves and/or to overcome previous difficulties and regain their rights?