Oh, oh. Here go the "loopholes".

J

jimpeel

New member
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,268084,00.html

Virginia Governor Seeks to Include Mental Health Reports in Gun Background Checks
Tuesday , April 24, 2007

RICHMOND, Va. —

Virginia's governor said Tuesday he may be able to close the loophole that allowed a mentally ill Virginia Tech student to acquire the guns he used to kill 32 classmates and faculty last week.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said in a radio interview that changes in the reporting of people a court has ruled have mental problems into a background check database might be possible with an executive order.

Seung-Hui Cho had been ordered by a court to undergo psychiatric counseling after he was ruled to present a danger to himself.

But because doctors Cho was treated as an outpatient and never committed to a mental health hospital, the court finding never made it into the database that federal law requires gun dealers to check before selling a firearm.
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Just what we need... more empty promises by big government bureaucrats promising to fix our problems.:mad:

All of the 'legislation' thats necessary is already in place.
 
I wouldnt read to much into that. A mental health order still requires adjudication and due process.
 
"All of the 'legislation' thats necessary is already in place."

Yes, the legislation allows the states to report information. Reporting to NICS is voluntary due to previous lawsuits. Only 22 states report mental health cases. Virginia leads the nation and the governor (who I'm not particularly fond of) wants to make sure the Commonwealth includes all of the appropriate information allowed under the law.

John
 
And so it has happened

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,269267,00.html

Virginia Governor Issues Order to Include Mental Health Reports in Gun Background Checks
Monday , April 30, 2007

RICHMOND, Va. —

The governor on Monday closed the loophole in state law that allowed the Virginia Tech gunman to buy weapons despite a court ruling that he was a threat and needed psychiatric counseling.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine issued an executive order requiring that a database of people banned from buying guns include the name of anyone who is found to be dangerous and ordered to get involuntary mental health treatment.

Seung-Hui Cho was told to get counseling in 2005 after a judge ruled that he was a danger to himself.

But because Cho was treated as an outpatient and never committed to a mental health hospital, the court's decision was not entered into the database, which gun dealers must check before selling a weapon.

"Whether that treatment is to be provided in an inpatient or outpatient facility is of no moment," Kaine said.

Cho did not disclose his mental health problems or the court-ordered treatment in a form he completed before buying the guns.

"His lie on the form would have been caught," had the order been in place before Cho attempted to buy the guns, Kaine said.

But it would not prevent Cho from acquiring guns by several other means that require no background check in Virginia, including buy-and-trade publications, individual transactions among gun collectors or hobbyists, and gun shows — vast firearms bazaars where scores of people sell or swap firearms.

Legislation that would also subject firearms sales at gun shows to instant background checks is introduced annually in Virginia, and just as often it dies without reaching a floor vote in the General Assembly.

Kaine, a Democrat, has said he expects new support for the legislation this year and that he would support it, as he has in the past.

The executive order does not apply to people who seek mental health care of their own will. After the report is added to Virginia's state police database, it becomes part of a federal database that gun dealers nationwide use.

Cho, a 23-year-old Virginia Tech senior described as a troubled loner, bought his guns legally through gun shops before gunning down 32 people on campus, then killing himself.

No motive has been established for his rampage.
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vast firearms bazaars where scores of people sell or swap firearms.
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Makes it sound like somthing out of the middleast with people who have gun booths out in a market. Like in the Blackhawk Down movie.
 
I think it's a "slippery slope" when we allow gun laws to be implemented by the swipe of a pen in an executive order. It sets bad precedent.
 
Makes it sound like somthing out of the middleast with people who have gun booths out in a market. Like in the Blackhawk Down movie.
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Well, the couple I've seen really aren't much different. The fact that it's indoors and the people are dressed in flannel instead of robes doesn't make it fundamentally different.

I think it's a "slippery slope" when we allow gun laws to be implemented by the swipe of a pen in an executive order. It sets bad precedent.
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He didn't create any new law. Such people were already barred from buying firearms. All this changes is method of enforcement.
 
that may be true, but what if next week they argue that people who post on this forum have an OCD disorder and need to be evaluated...

don't think it can happen... plenty of people were sent to "re-education" because they had some form of invented mental disorders...

History repeats itself...
 
Opposition to Authority Disorder. Sounds like a good make believe mental problem. Instead of ADD, or whatever they like to call it now, they could begin labeling the kids with OAD instead. That would pretty much end the legal purchase of firearms.

History... Schools becoming indoctrination/re-education centers. Nah, never happen in a thousand years... Government schools wouldn't have a bias.
 
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