Shooting Rampage at Northern Illinois U.

[Lady Brave]

Originally Posted by firstdown

Well I was just reading that he was off or not taking his medication but they did not say what he was taking. I also read he had purchased the guns within 5 days of the shootings and used a hand gun and shot gun. I do know that here in VA. if people have mental issues the are not allowed to buy guns and it suppose to show up with their instant back ground check. That was one of the issues with the VT shooting and if the proper procedures were followed that guys name should have come up as rejected for the purchase of the gun. If I remember correctly it was the doctors or medical place which failed to report his mental condition. I just don't get this stuff because its not like in the past 15 years kids all of a sudden started have mental issues. Heck, we had people carrying guns in their cars on school property when I went to high school back in the early 80s. We never gave it any second thought.

The reporting of mental health commitments to NICS is not mandatory and most states do not do an automatic check for commitments when running backgrounds. Truth be told, most states rely on the applicant to voluntarily disclose their mental health history when he/she submits a firearms purchase application. Unfortunately, right now, we rely on the honor system to find out if someone has prior mental health issues. On top of that, some states refuse to disclose mental health information all together.

I don't know what VA's gun law is with regards to mental health commitments. I do know that the VT shooter was not prohibited to purchase firearms under federal law. You cannot be denied firearms under federal law if you are committed to an institution or hospital and only held for observation. I can't remember who actually had him initially committed, but the hospital chose not to formally commit him and only held him for observation. He did not qualify as a prohibited person because the hospital ultimately did not find him to be a mental defective or incompetent while he received treatment.

VA is one of the leading states that cooperates with NICS in reporting mental health commitments. According to the NICS rep I spoke with about the VT shooter, VA did everything to the letter with regards to his background check. The shooter simply slid through a very small crack in the statute. Until the Feds fix that crack and make all mental health commitments a prohibitive category, regardless of the diagnosis or treatment a person receives, crazy people will continue to be approved for firearms purchases.