Editorial: Reporting loophole lets mentally ill buy guns
23.05.12
In most cases, even mental illness this severe is treatable. Sadly, though, none of those people or dozens more who came in contact with him thought to notify authorities, and like about half of people with severe mental illness, Loughner didn't believe he was sick. In most states, almost anyone — a teacher, a parent, even a friend or a neighbor — can petition mental health authorities or a court to have someone like Loughner evaluated for mental illness. About half of states allow involuntary, court-ordered treatment for people judged to be dangerous to themselves or others, a threshold Loughner might not have met since he apparently made no overt threats. Other states, including Arizona, wisely allow courts more latitude in requiring treatment for those who clearly need it.
Bizarrely, though, even if Loughner had been ordered into treatment, there's a good chance he would have had no problem passing a background check to buy a gun. That's because only a handful of states bother to pass along all the records of those formally judged to be mentally ill to the federal background check database that gun dealers must consult.
Source: USA TODAY