Obviously on the questionaire instead of a simple : Do you have/have you had mental health issue ?. There should be a medical history check as standard. Anybody with that on their record - instant refusal. Now it will not get rid of gun deaths or the moronic gun culture in America - but it will remove a large portion of people from gaining a gun imho.
The american law is very casual toward guns. Infact this is not the first time we have heard of school shootings. My heart goes out to all the families suffering loss and grievance and to the victims both terminated and injured. I hope this atrocity changes things.
Kind of difficult though huh? Not all nutcases go to their doctor...infact the majority dont, as they think theyre normal, and theyre pretty good at convincing others theyre normal too. I was once going out wth a guy for a whole year before i discovered he had a serious mental health problem. Hmm and i dread to think what would have happened if hed had easy access to guns
And that's the point, medical checks should me made compulsory as a bare minimum in any country permitting the sale of guns....
Well i it was interesting to hear - that indeed a persons medical history IS taken into account. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationw...0apr20,0,1362784.story?coll=la-home-headlines http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=virginia+outpatient+gun&meta= I did not know that. It seems if this person was a inpatient it would have been flagged on his record. He was a outpatient though - so this was NOT flagged on his record. Him saying NO to that question was accurate as far as he was concerned - he was not lying. It is true that some people convince those around them they are ''normal'' . They just flip - no history of mental illness is ever recorded. Another reason for their action and responsibility for not stopping that person - would have to be found. On this occasion it seems it was supposedly the police - for not going after this person, even though they were assuming it was the boyfriend of the first victim. They could not have thought it was the other individual given the time they had and the amount of people on that campus. It would have taken more than a hour or so to figure that one out - given the person who may have given his name was erm well dead. Lots of people have been mentioning he had a history of mental disturbance - but if he was over it or was not deemed ''mental'' - having that on his record [some would argue] would have i'm sure violated his human rights not to be stigmatised. Ultimate responsibility should be on the person carrying out the act imho. The ''right to bare arms'' is a red herring imho - 99% of the world allows lawful ownership of a weapon. If you pass the checks then you get a gun. He did. This person could have been living in the Uk and if the same medical flaws were within the vetting process - he would have got his gun. I think we have to look at his video and accept his bullshit - THAT was the rationale behind his actions. He was messed up and nothing was going to stop him. It was nobodys fault but his delusions.
I suspect that's not true, the point is how lax America's gun laws are. There are basic checks yes but essentially everyone has a right to own guns for any reason. In this country you need to demonstrate legitimate need (farming, sport etc), have a policeman visit your house to inspect your property and gun safe, and there are much stricter requirements about the number and type of weapons you can have, who can have them, how you keep them, where you can carry them, how much ammunition you can have and of course certain types of weapons are outlawed altogether.
Commiserations to everyone involved really is all we can do. The laws are as they are and always will be, I don't believe we can export our culture and write it over the american one and I don't believe we can properly understand it either. Sure cry shame but not no more.
It is of course impossible to say. The point is he would have had far more hoops to jump through, would have found it difficult to get a weapon so quickly if he was permitted at all - let alone more than one - and of course could not have got hold of legal handguns. The problem is America's gun culture and the ease with which anyone can get hold of these weapons, strict gun control such as we have here affects both and consequently makes these kinds of crimes that much more rare.
Interesting description of the UK firearms licensing requirements - I can see several places where he might have been caught out if he had been applying for legal weapons in the UK.
I think you have a fair point lithium - reading your previous few posts. I just despise the simplified characterisation of American gun culture and the effects it has on their society - but i suppose the harsh reality is - it is simple - idiots like this guy buy into all that bullshit. Listening to his video - i think the sad fact is - as tedious and predictable as it all is - all the cliches are borne out.
Gun culture in America is far bigger. It is a case of lax gun laws that make it very easy for anyone to get hold of a gun. The sad fact is, now a lot of guns are getting into the UK. It is 11 years since the shooting at Dunblane. I just wonder whether the government of this country is trying hard enough to track down the gun gangs? The atrocities of the Virginia gun massacre simply highlights that now is the time for America to get tough on guns. This tragedy was inevitable. It was going to happen, it was just a matter of when. On behalf of the UK, my thoughts are with all in Virginia.