Gun Sales

[ZooFuzz]

Mother takes on gun sales after daughter's death
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/breaking_news/15940005.htm

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The mother of a young woman who was gunned down by a jealous acquaintance wants to strengthen South Carolina's law regarding gun sales to mentally unstable people.
Sandrea Ruff's daughter, Jacquelyn, was killed in September by Stephen Mark Turner, who the family says stalked Jacquelyn after she agreed to go out with him once.
Turner bought the .45-caliber gun he used to kill Jacquelyn Ruff and himself just one day after being released from Palmetto Behavioral Health, where he had been treated for suicidal thoughts and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5638025
Federal law bars the sale of handguns to anyone committed to a mental institution or declared mentally ill by a court. But South Carolina's enforcement of the law requires the person buying the handgun to admit to mental problems on a form.


There is a yes or no question in the registration form when you purchase a handgun, and if you mark "no" the seller won't know if you're mentally ill or unstable, and if you mark "yes", when the background check is performed, the FBI will turn it down. I'm not disagreeing, but the ONLY way the seller could tell is if this type of history is added to Federal, State, County, or City files involving criminal history, but then this type of information is most likely guarded by the HEPPA law. Mentally unstable people, like criminals are not going to freely admit that they are.
This would be a great factor when checking a criminal history, if this type of info could be included.

[swampfox]

There is a yes or no question in the registration form when you purchase a handgun, and if you mark "no" the seller won't know if you're mentally ill or unstable, and if you mark "yes", when the background check is performed, the FBI will turn it down.

I'd say that is the weakness of the law right there. There is no way to check the healthcare history of anybody, unless they give written permission through each individual healthcare provider. Why even have this question when it cannot be verified?

We didn't have a gun problem in this country 50 years ago. We didn't have it when I was in high school in the late 60s and early 70s. It was not unusual to see a pickup in the student parking lot with a gun rack with guns on it, probably because there was a plan to go hunting after school. So it's not the guns that have changed so much as the societal problem of people being willing to use them against other people. The number of school shootings is skyrocketing. So what does the anti-gun-control crowd publicly support? That there be little or no checking or qualifying for people who want to buy guns. Talk about sinking your own ship!

If I can walk into a gun shop and buy a gun after having lied on my registration form, that means that the Ted Bundys and gangstas and Klan boys and girls can do the same. I've never been charged with a crime (except for one speeding ticket, seriously), I don't hang out with criminals, and I've never been found to be criminally insane or violent. Why shouldn't I have more rights regarding gun ownership than the bad guys? Not everybody gets a driver's license, or gets to keep it. Why not the same for guns? David Koresh of Waco fame bought his stuff, including mounted .50 cal machine guns and anti-tank missiles mostly at gun shows that were open to the public. He was an obviously dangerous nut, but he got the support, posthumously, of the NRA crowd. These people are acting against their own best interests, a very bad sign.

[swampfox]

I just got a BB pistol, and as soon as I get through modifying it, don't even bother hiding behind a brick wall.

Kevlar vests? Try Kleenex.

Force=mass x acceleration, all day long.