Isla Vista Suspect Allowed to Buy Guns Despite Emotional problems
Notice the anonymous byline on this story - more and more reporting about guns and gun deaths is being done anonymously because of the avalanche of hate that comes with any gun story, reasoned or not. Anything that questions the ease of gun murder in this country is a story that draws ire from the NRA crowd.
Elliot Rodger, the man behind the deadly attacks in Isla Vista near UC Santa Barbara, was able to legally obtain three guns despite a history of depression and having been under the care of a therapist for some time.
Rodger, who died in the attack, left behind writings and videos threatening violence. But experts said there was nothing in Rodger’s known history before the killing spree to warrant barring him from buying guns under the law.
If Rodger had issued a threat of violence against specific, identifiable victims to a psychiatrist, the psychiatrist would have been required to report it to law enforcement, and Rodger could have been banned from owning guns for five years. That did not happen, and there is no evidence that Rodger made such a threat — in fact, his writings suggest that he had worked studiously to hide his violent plan to kill people in the UCSB neighborhood.
More: Isla Vista Suspect Allowed to Buy Guns Despite Emotional problems - Los Angeles Times