Ohio sniper: Time for a new approach to prevention

The Brady Campaign To End Gun Violence (formerly Handgun Control Inc.) must secretly be disappointed that, like 99% of all criminals, the sniper did not use a so-called "assault weapon" in the commission of his crimes. The rest of us are pleased - his use of a short-barreled, small caliber pistol ensured inaccurate, low-velocity shots that injured few of his targets. Without the "assault weapons" angle, the Brady Bunch is quickly turning it's focus to Ohio's instant background check system.

Peter Hamm, spokesman for the Brady Campaign, complains that Ohio currently has no mechanism to enter court records concerning mental illness into the National Instant Check System, the computer system that checks the background of gun purchasers.

"If you’re a 40-year-old guy who wants to buy a gun but you stole a car back when you were 18, (the background check) will spit you out," Hamm told the Columbus Dispatch. "But if you’re a paranoid schizophrenic that once was committed, there’s nothing in the system."

Only 17 states have the type of expensive mechanism Hamm is discussing, and even Hamm admits such a mechanism which would have done nothing to prevent the Ohio sniper suspect from obtaining his firearms, since he had never been ruled mentally ill in a court of law.

The vast majority of states rely on a perfectly reasonable Federal law, which prevents persons from purchasing firearms if they have been found by a court to be mentally incompetent or if they have been involuntarily committed to an institution. If such a person attempts to purchase a firearm in Ohio (or any state), they must fill out an National Instant Check System (NICS) application, which requires the applicant to acknowledge if they have ever been found to be mentally incompetent. If a person is willing to break the law by lying on the application, they will likely be willing to break whatever laws stand in their way to obtain a firearm.

Even the sensible precautions taken by NICS concerning mental disabilities catch innocent people in the net. For example, how many grown women who once suffered from an eating disorder and who were institutionalized by a family member are now forced to be rendered defenseless for the rest of their lives? How many grief sufferers have had to spend time in a hospital to get help with overcoming the shock of a sudden loss? How many first-responders, overcome by frequent exposure to traumatic events, have been treated in a mental facility before returning to productive lives, even to their former jobs? In the past few months, Ohio's newspapers have covered several homicides in which the defenseless victim suffered from mental and/ or physical disabilities. Clearly, these citizens deserve the same self-protection rights as the rest of us enjoy.

According to Anne Robinson, executive director of the Franklin County (OH) chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, only a small fraction of the tiny fraction of society who suffer from schizophrenia ever become violent. Shouldn't we be looking for ways to target these rare cases, rather than promoting knee-jerk reactions that will only serve to disarm more of the innocent people?

More gun control laws are not the answer. In fact, as columnist Joseph Farrah recently pointed out, the case of the Ohio sniper is "a perfect illustration of the dangers of disarming the public – and leaving crime-prevention and deterrence to the government."

If they really hope to make a difference, Ohioans (and Americans) need to be about discussing questions like:

If history is any indicator, discussions that might truly prevent future cases like the Ohio sniper will be ignored by the media in favor of more controversial arguments over radical gun control proposals.

And the innocent will continue to suffer as a result.

Chad D. Baus lives in Ohio, and is a spokesperson for Ohioans for Concealed Carry (www.ohioccw.org), the state's largest grassroots organization dedicated solely to reforming Ohio's self-protection laws.

We warned you: Media dutifully chasing gun ban extremists' "solution" that would not have fixed the Ohio sniper problem!

Click on the "Read More..." link below for examples.

NOTE: In every case except for the Columbus Dispatch, the following media outlets were aware of the OFCC op-ed BEFORE they wrote their article. Yet they chose only to present Brady Campaign claims.

Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio blasted as lax in updating don't-sell-to list
"Wednesday's arrest in the highway-shooting case has given fresh ammunition to gun-control advocates who say Ohio does a lousy job of keeping mentally ill people from buying guns."

CNN: How did the accused sniper get a gun with a history of mental illness?
"It is against federal law for someone with a diagnosed mental illness to own a firearm. The problem is, is that in many states, including Ohio, mental illness is not one of the things that is in the database that gun dealers use when they sell guns."
FALSE! Federal law says NOTHING about people "diagnosed" with mental illness in regards to gun purchases or ownership - it prevents people whom a court has ruled mentally ill from purchasing firearms.

Columbus Dispatch: Mentally ill can pass background checks
"News that a man charged in one of the serial shootings has a mental illness raised questions about how he could buy a gun in these days of instant background checks."

and
Conceal-carry may include mentally ill

Dayton Daily News: Gun law concealed loopholes
"Until Wednesday, Mr. McCoy would have walked right through the door with his conceal-carry permit," said Luis Tolley, director of state legislation for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "There are thousands of people like this man who have clean records, but are ticking time bombs. And this law is going to permit each and every one of them to carry a concealed weapon."

Gannett News Service: Sniper case raises issues about Ohio's firearms rules
"The Ohio Attorney General's office is currently compiling a list of people judged by county courts to be mentally ill. The project began in preparation for the state concealed weapons law that goes into effect next month. Local sheriffs who grant concealed-weapons licenses will consult with a new state database, and those who've been found mentally ill will be denied permits.

Kim Norris, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Jim Petro, said her office isn't mandated to hand that information over to the FBI for use in instant background checks. She said that decision would have to be made by federal or state lawmakers."

Ohio News Network: Sniper Suspect Raises Concealed Carry Doubts

Toledo Blade: How did sniper suspect get gun?
Kent Markus, a law professor at Capital University and a former counselor to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno tried work gun shows into the mix, falsely informing the Blade that "there would have been no background check if Mr. McCoy bought his weapons at a gun show."