That's a really, really good point about the mental illness and being a danger to one's self. I mean, like you said - if it was declared IN COURT, it should have been on his permanent record and he should have failed the background check. He might still have been able to get the guns anyway - or he might have gone some other route - but that's moot just now, because he DID get the guns, with no trouble
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I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels sorry for Cho. I haven't expressed it in my own lj yet (although I plan to make a post about it soon), but after my anger subsided, now all I feel is compassion and sadness for him. His life must have been a living hell. After reading his "manifesto" and seeing those pictures and movies that he sent to NBC the other day...that just confirms how mentally disturbed he really was. When I watched the video, I cried. I cried for his victims, but I cried mainly for him. For someone to be that mentally ill...it really is torture to be alive. He must have felt so alone, so miserable, so awful. I wish he could have gotten help before it was too late, and I really wish he didn't have to take so many people down with him. He didn't have to kill all those other people so he could find peace. But I hope he has peace now, regardless.
Yes. I also hope that his family finds peace, and that they are never, EVER blamed for what happened. Because they are at the most risk of blame from the hurting victims and families.
I don't know much about gun laws, but I think that there should definitely be a *mental* background check before someone is given access to a gun. I don't think someone should be denied a gun if they have a mild case of depression or something (after all, I'm diagnosed with "clinical depression" and I'd never think of killing someone or myself), but if someone has a severe case of mental illness... they don't need to have a gun. They need to have mental health treatment, instead.
According to what I *just* heard on NPR (as I was writing this comment), gun laws state that if someone has severe mental disturbances, they are not allowed to buy a gun. Cho was evaluated by a judge in 2005 (in connection to his stalking a girl, I think) and deemed to be mentally ill then. However, that memo never made it into his federal file, which is what's checked when he goes to get a gun permit. So it sounds like there was a miscommication there. *sigh*
Well, the way they were explaining it on CNN last night was that the reason it didn't go on his background check was because he was not involuntarily committed. He was evaluated, he was found to be a danger to himself, but he agreed to do outpatient treatment, and they made the decision not to involuntarily commit him. (No word on what outpatient treatment he sought, if any, I haven't heard anything about that. I do believe that it's quite possible, as one source suggested, that his state of mind and condition had deteriorated drastically from the point when he was evaluated -- back then he was not considered a danger to others, but if he were evaluated more recently, he might have
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At the least, there should be a provision that if someone is declared mentally ill (but not committed), then they should need to provide a recent psychiatric evaluation indicating that they are fit to own a firearm, or something like that.
You hit the nail on the head. I think there needs to be definitions of what "mentally ill" is, of course, and to what degree, but if someone has been accused of stalking multiple women (isn't that a crime on it's own?) and clearly has mental issues as deep as Cho did, then they should not be allowed to buy a handgun. There's a difference between a mentally sane person, or someone who is entirely off their rocker. Cho was just so far gone... he shouldn't have been allowed to buy a gun at all, involuntary commited or not.
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According to what I *just* heard on NPR (as I was writing this comment), gun laws state that if someone has severe mental disturbances, they are not allowed to buy a gun. Cho was evaluated by a judge in 2005 (in connection to his stalking a girl, I think) and deemed to be mentally ill then. However, that memo never made it into his federal file, which is what's checked when he goes to get a gun permit. So it sounds like there was a miscommication there. *sigh*
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You hit the nail on the head. I think there needs to be definitions of what "mentally ill" is, of course, and to what degree, but if someone has been accused of stalking multiple women (isn't that a crime on it's own?) and clearly has mental issues as deep as Cho did, then they should not be allowed to buy a handgun. There's a difference between a mentally sane person, or someone who is entirely off their rocker. Cho was just so far gone... he shouldn't have been allowed to buy a gun at all, involuntary commited or not.
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