Thursday, April 26, 2007

Virginia Erred: Cho Should Have Been NCIS Listed

This is interesting:

Federal law, BATF regulations, and federal judicial precedent all hold that if someone is found by a magistrate to be a danger to others or to himself (as the state magistrate in Virginia determined that Cho was), he is barred from owning a gun. The fact that the magistrate that evaluated Cho's case recommended outpatient treatmant rather than commitment shouldn't have mattered. The problem is that state magistrates and mental health professionals aren't always aware that a situation like Cho's calls for an update to the instant background check database.

All previous commentary held that the 'outpatient' treatment allowed Cho to purchase handguns--that only commitment would have placed him on the "no sale" part of the NCIS list.

HT: American Spectator blog

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