[lit-ideas] Re: Mark Steyn on Gun Control
- From: "JimKandJulieB@xxxxxxx Krueger" <juliereneb@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 23:16:07 -0500
*Re. gun laws and efficacy.....
*
*<<BLACKSBURG, Virginia* (CNN) -- When a judge deemed Virginia Tech shooter
Seung-Hui Cho a danger to himself due to mental illness in 2005, that ruling
should have disqualified him from buying a handgun under federal law.
It didn't.
And his slaughter of 32 people last week has raised questions about the
efficacy of instant background checks for firearms purchases by the mentally
ill. (Watch how the law
failed<javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/law/2007/04/23/todd.gun.law.loophole.cnn','2009/04/22');>
[image:
Video]<javascript:cnnVideo('play','javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/law/2007/04/23/todd.gun.law.loophole.cnn','2009/04/22');','2007/04/23');>
)
Under federal law, anyone who has been judged to be a danger to himself or
others because of mental illness, as Cho was, should be prohibited from
buying a gun. (Watch campus shooting rekindle debate on gun
control<javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/us/2007/04/18/romans.gun.control.cnn','2009/04/17');>
[image:
Video]<javascript:cnnVideo('play','javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/us/2007/04/18/romans.gun.control.cnn','2009/04/17');','2007/04/23');>
)
His status should have been noted in the National Instant Criminal
Background Check System, a database of people disqualified from gun
purchases.
But, in Cho's case, his mental status never went in the system.
A deadly information gap
That's because the federal government relied on Virginia to provide the
information, and Virginia law disqualifies a person from buying firearms
only if they have been involuntarily committed to a mental hospital. (Read
the judge's order <http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/images/04/18/cho.pdf>)
Cho was ordered to undergo outpatient treatment, but he was never committed.
His appearance before the judge and his evaluation at a mental health
facility did not show up when he bought the guns. (Read full
story<http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/19/gun.laws/index.html>)
So Virginia never reported him, and he was not flagged in a background
check.
Virginia Attorney General Robert McDonnell concedes that "the gap is clearly
there in the state and federal law."
"We're taking a good look at whether the federal law would have been an
absolute disqualifier," McDonnell said on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf
Blitzer."
He said state law may need to be changed to meet federal requirements.
Cho cheated system
Ironically, although Virginia law created a loophole for Cho, the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says Virginia is actually one of
the best performing states when it comes to entering mental status of
persons into the background check system.
In fact, only 22 states, including Virginia, put any mental-status entries
into the federal database. The remaining states cite costs and privacy
concerns as reasons they don't.
But even if Virginia had put Cho in the database, he could still have
sidestepped the background check by buying his firearms at a gun show or
from a private seller.
Those types of transactions account for about half of the guns sold in the
United States each year.
In Virginia, a person 21 or older can buy only one handgun a month, unless
he has a license to buy more.
Cho bought one gun, a .22-caliber pistol, in early February and another, a 9
mm pistol, in March.
He apparently bought the .22-caliber weapon from an out-of-state dealer.
Under federal law, a weapon purchased from an out-of-state dealer must be
shipped to an in-state, federally licensed gun dealer, who runs a background
check. The buyer must appear in person to pick up the gun, and the dealer
receives a small fee -- usually between $20 and $40 -- for facilitating the
pickup.
On February 9, Cho picked up the out-of-state purchase -- a Walther P22
pistol -- from JND pawnshop across the street from campus, according to Joe
Dowdy, who owns the shop. (Watch dealer recount selling weapon to
Cho<javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/us/2007/04/18/griffin.cho.gun.cnn','2009/04/17');>
[image:
Video]<javascript:cnnVideo('play','javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/us/2007/04/18/griffin.cho.gun.cnn','2009/04/17');','2007/04/23');>)
Cho bought a Glock 19 and 50 rounds of ammunition on March 12, staying just
within the limit of one gun purchase per month, said John Markell at Roanoke
Firearms in nearby Roanoke, Virginia.
Even though Cho is a resident alien, Markell said, it was legal for him to
purchase a firearm, and he presented three forms of identification: a
driver's license, a checkbook with an address matching the driver's license,
and a resident alien card.
Cho moved to the United States from South Korea at age 8.
Clips possibly bought on eBay
Investigators are seeking records related to an e-mail and eBay account that
may have been used by Cho, a source close to the investigation said. The
account being checked was used last month to buy magazine clips that would
fit one of the handguns used by Cho in his shooting rampage.
A CNN check of eBay transaction records online showed that the account that
investigators are examining -- Blazers5505 -- was used in numerous
transactions over the past several months.
Those included the March 22 purchase of two empty, 10-round magazines for a
Walther P22 handgun from a company in Rigby, Idaho, that sells hunting and
shooting supplies. Authorities have said one of the two handguns used by Cho
was a Walther P22 pistol. (Read full
story<http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/21/vtech.shooting/index.html>
)>>
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