NIU Shooting Fuels Gun Control Debate
A national database of mentally ill persons prohibited from buying guns reportedly contains only a small fraction of those who are eligible to be listed.
Among those not included: Steven Kazmierczak, who shot and killed five Northern Illinois University students last week before committing suicide, reports USA Today. He legally purchased the five guns he used to commit the crimes, according to a spokesman for the FBI. Apparently, he wasn’t eligible for the national database because he hadn’t been determined by a court to be dangerous to himself or others, and he had never been committed by a court for involuntary mental treatment.
Although the Illinois legislature strengthened the state’s laws against mentally ill people owning guns after the Virginia Tech tragedy last year, the new law, which doesn’t take effect until later this year, still may not be strict enough to cover individuals like Kazmierczak, according to another USA Today article.
Some officials, including Chicago Mayor Richard Daley are citing the NIU shootings in their annual push for state gun-control legislation, according to the Associated Press.
Among the state measures they propose: required buyer background checks for private sales of handguns and a ban on gun magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
A spokesman for the National Rifle Association says it is “poor form for a politician or a special interest group to try to push a legislative agenda on the back of any tragedy,” the news agency reports.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Number on Gun-Ban List Doubles”
ABAJournal.com: “Panel Allots Blame for Va. Tech. Massacre”
ABAJournal.com: “Congress to Pass Gun Control Bill”
ABAJournal.com: “Dubious Data Used in Gun Control Debate”
Hat tip: Criminal Justice Journalists.
