The Virginia Tech gunman should have been prevented from purchasing a firearm after he was found to be a danger to himself by a Virginia court in late 2005, according to a University professor.
Prof. Richard Bonnie, director of the University Institute on Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy, said provisions in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and additional regulations adopted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms prohibit individuals who have been found mentally unstable from buying a weapon. This ban also applies to individuals who have been involuntarily committed to a mental health center.
"When you look at state law, it appears that the restrictions in state law and, most importantly, the provisions that require civil commitment proceedings ... would only cover people who have been involuntarily committed to a hospital," Bonnie said.
Under such an interpretation of state law, though Seung-Hui Cho was found to be mentally unstable, he was able to purchase a weapon because he was not involuntarily committed to a mental health facility.
Prof. Dewey Cornell, director of the U.Va. Youth Violence Project, said mental health is not a high priority for the government or the health insurance industry and noted sometimes these institutions are barriers to providing help.
"No law works in all cases," Cornell said. "There's a saying that bad cases make bad law. I think this case will cause us to reconsider the importance of limiting firearm access to individuals who have serious mental illness."
According to Bonnie, these mental health restrictions apply to the case of Cho, who was found mentally ill by a Virginia court in December 2005, adding that the recent shootings were evidence of problems in the state's enforcement of federal law.
"There is, in fact, a disconnect in federal and state law on this matter, likely due entirely to oversight," Bonnie said. "The federal regulations are obscure. It wouldn't surprise me if there are disconnects in other states."
Bonnie, who pointed out the oversight in the enforcement of Virginia gun laws, is the chairman of the Virginia Supreme Court's Commission of Mental Health Law Reform. The group, founded in October 2006, studies Virginia's mental health laws and services. It also makes recommendations to the General Assembly about how to improve the state's responsiveness to issues of mental health awareness.
"This is a fairly substantial effort," Bonnie said. "I'm kind of amazed the investment that is being made in this commitment by all branches of the state government and private stakeholder groups. I hope that this will be a model for other states."
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