[wolf]

First off, there are plenty of people who kill people who aren't crazy. Gang members, armed robbers, etc. They are criminals. They are not crazy. Yes, you like to think they are different from you, but in essence, they aren't. The regard for human life is not automatic. Neither is self control. But the lack of either is a matter of personality, not insanity. If you really had to be crazy to kill someone, insanity defenses would work more than 1% of the time.

The news articles were unclear as to the extent of mental health treatment history the guy had.


A bit about firearms law ...

If you are buying a handgun ... you have to fill out the state and federal paperwork to do so.

The "gun show loophole" doesn't exist in the way that the Brady Bunch would like you to believe. You ARE allowed to make a transfer of a long arm between private citizens. Anything else requires an FFL dealer in the middle ... you pay him or her a fee, usually around $25, for running the background check and filing the paperwork.

State laws also vary related to mental health history ... most states will deny a firearms purchase to anyone who has been involuntarily committed to a hospital. (In Florida, that means "Baker Acted". My jurisdiction calls it a 302. California's is a 5150 ... those are the only ones I know offhand). Usually folks who have sought voluntary treatment (which is the great majority) don't go into the no-buy database.

I seem to recall the fed paperwork asking if I were an American Citizen or a habitual drunkard. Nothing asked me to indicate if I were crazy, suicidal, homicidal, or just plain pissed off.

Edit to add: Yes, there are criminal charges for falsely filling out the forms. More of the slap on the wrist variety, but they are federal ... I was once in a gun store when someone tried to do this. It was very interesting to watch. The cops got called and were already familiar with the rocket scientists involved (there was more than one visit to the gunstore on this one).