VT Killer Ruled Mentally Ill by Court; Let Go After Hospital Visit (Virginia Tech)

ABC News Online ^ | 4/18/07 | Ned Potter and David Schoetz

[GOP_1900AD]

Someone screwed up big time.

[samadams2000]

Yes, Stalking students and lighting the dorm on fire arent necessarily precursurs to violence.

[SE Mom]

Just incomprehensible.

[Spktyr]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1819553/posts

You have to specifically write "NO" in the box.

[Frank_2001]

“Rather than exercise gun control, I think we need to exercise some lunatic control.”

Agreed!

[colorado tanker]

So, the police, courts and mental health authorities had this guy nailed and let him go? And somehow this is all the fault of a lack of gun control??

And just how did he pass a background check with a mental health detention order in his record?

[CFC__VRWC]

I hope that firearms dealer who was bragging about how thorough his background check was gets his license revoked.

The dealer's background check is only as good as the background material he's been given to use to perform that check. He had to assume the information in it was good. If a commercial aircraft suffers some major in-flight failure, even after the plane passed pre-flight checks, is it the pilot's fault when the plane crashes and kills everyone aboard?

[Labyrinthos]

I hope that firearms dealer who was bragging about how thorough his background check was gets his license revoked. He makes all legitimate firearms dealers look like negligent morons. The murderer was not in legal possession of those firearms. He committed fraud and the system gave him a pass.

Other than voluntary disclosure of mental illness by the applicant himself, how would the gun dealer determine whether the guy is a nut job? I would think that the dealer's knowledge is only as good as the information in the database used for the background check, which probably does not contain psychiatric and mental health information particularly in view of HIIPA.

[Spktyr]

See the other thread at: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1819553/posts

Virginia DOES have a database of that. And it’s required to be checked separately from NICS.

[vetvetdoug]

Medical information is supposed to be under the privacy act unless a insurer wants it, then everyone is privy to it. There is no correlation/connection between the medical records and the ATF/FBI records anyway. The only way this can be coordinated is by insurance records with the ATF/FBI background checks.

[Labyrinthos]

I imagine the court should report these orders to NCIC.

But is ths court allowed to disclose this information? What about the right to privacy under HIIPA?

[cll]

If the guy is obviously incompetent, how did he managed to stay at this university year after year? I mean, do they still grade people?

[Ellesu]

agree with your comments, but he would have found a gun somehow, or used explosives etc...he was nuts and many knew it and did nothing.