Mentally ill man buys guns.

[jeager106]

John Hokanson Jr. is bipolar. The 33-year-old has been involuntarily committed several times, in California and in Arizona, and he has been in court-ordered outpatient treatment. Yet no red flags were raised when he purchased a surplus Army rifle from a Big 5 Sporting Goods store in Phoenix.

In fact, the only reason we know this particular mentally ill man purchased firearm is because he’s deciding to tell his story, frustrated by what he sees as a “false dichotomy” with mass shootings framed as either a mental-health issue only or a gun issue only.
Everyone agrees that guns should be kept out of the hands of the mentally ill, even the National Rifle Association. But taking the steps to make that happen is where agreement ends. The Isla Vista shooter’s fragile mental state was known by his parents and the professionals who had treated him since childhood, but police doing a “wellness check” on him at the request of his mother failed to even ask about the guns in his possession.

Hokanson thought he needed a gun because he was living in what he describes as a bad neighborhood. This was in 2005-2006, so he was in his mid-twenties. During a depressive episode when he wasn’t caring for himself or cleaning his apartment, and was in the hospital awaiting evaluation, his sister took it upon herself to break into his apartment and remove the rifle. She took it to a gun turn-in program. Initially furious with his sister, Hokanson came to see the wisdom in what she did.

Scary huh????

See link:
http://news.yahoo.com/don-t-ever-let...-politics.html

My g-friend is a wonderful woman whom I love dearly.
Her daughter is 40, will live with mom till mom dies.
Daughter is paranod schizophrenic. Sad. I know daughter well & have seen her WITH her meds, go into a violent tirade & attack her mother.
Mother (my g-friend) want me to move in with them & we'd be a "family".
Yeah, sure, right.
I collect guns you see. Daughter is a para skiz. Relationship ain't going nowhere.
It's only a matter of time until daughter has an "episode" and kills someone with her car.
Daughter can go into any shop & buy a gun and shoot people because "god" told her to.
Scary what?
How many fatal "accidents" are caused by menally ill who ram vehicles into unsuspecting innocents?
I knew of some, couldn't prove squat.

[JERRYS.]

so he lied on his back ground paperwork and there was no system in place to verify this?

[Tom Servo]

The 33-year-old has been involuntarily committed several times, in California and in Arizona, and he has been in court-ordered outpatient treatment. Yet no red flags were raised when he purchased a surplus Army rifle from a Big 5 Sporting Goods store in Phoenix.

Well, whose fault was that?

Tell me again how the NICS system works so well. Tell me again how expanding it to all gun sales will prevent criminals and the mentally ill from getting guns.

Hokanson needs to be prosecuted for lying on the form, but that won't happen. His sister needs to be prosecuted for breaking and entering, as well as theft of a firearm, but that won't happen.

So...if we're not going to enforce the law as currently implemented, why on earth would we support expanding it?

The article is deliberately confusing better mental health reporting with universal background checks. The NRA supports the former, which would have prevented this situation. They oppose the latter, which would have changed nothing.

[jeager106]

Correct. He lied on the 4473 form which is a felony.
He has not been called into account for this.
I'm guessing the metally ill person could have a built in defense.
"Not guilty by reason of insanity".
Speculation on my part but that does seem to make sense.
Being as he was INvoluntarily committed to a mental facility he should
have been in the "system" but was not.
Were he in the system he would have been denied.
Wonder? How many mentally ill are NOT in the system?
Wonder? Are these mass, public, random, murders, committed by mentally
ill?
Yes they are. Should anyone care to do the research, just on the web, one would learn that the Sandy Hook horror, the movie theater fiasco, the Navy grounds in D.C. murders, & many, many, more, were committed by nut cases.
Ergo one might conclude the root cause for these kinds of horrific crimes might just be freakin' nut cases free to walk among the unsuspecting
public!
My point on another thread was that dangerously mentally ill were once institutionalized for the protection of the ill AND the general public.
That is no longer the case, not for at least 30 years.
It's almost impossible to get a mentally ill person put in a facility to keep them from harm or harming the innocent.
Can't hardly be done UNLESS/UNTILL they committ grievous acts.

[BumbleBug]

Originally Posted by Tom Servo

So...if we're not going to enforce the law as currently implemented, why on earth would we support expanding it?

Thank you Tom - this is exactly the way I see it! The anti's yell for more back-ground checks when instead they should find out why the existing system doesn't work. Every good citizen wants to keep guns away from the mentally unstable. Arguing about buying at gun shows or over the internet is nonsense when all sales go through the same existing check system anyway (which obviously doesn't work & perhaps so on purpose).

[geetarman]

Proposed new laws that will not be enforced will be no more effective than existing laws that are not enforced.

We have seen it over and over.

[gyvel]

So...

A person who is INvoluntarily committed to a mental institution or hospital is supposedly barred from owning a firearm, but a person who has voluntarily checked into same IS allowed?????

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Calling people who are mentally ill - freakin' nut cases is not really appropriate.

The OP is a rant with no real insight into the problem.

I see no use for it continuing.

Closed