Doug Huffman
Banned
imported post
mailto://atitan@uwosh.edu
http://www.advancetitan.com/story.aspx?s=6781
When 32 students were killed at Virginia Tech almost a year ago, many students around the country shared the sadness and fear. While participating in candlelight vigils and declaring that we were all Hokies, students at UW-Oshkosh couldn’t help wondering if the same thing could happen here.
Finally, almost a year after the Virginia Tech shootings, Wisconsin legislators are reconsidering a bill that will further ensure the same cannot happen at a Wisconsin school.
The bill, which was proposed right after the Virginia Tech massacre, proposes to expand the list of Wisconsin residents who are prohibited from owning guns.
The list is part of a national database called the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and it is a list of citizens who cannot purchase guns. Each state is responsible for compiling names and information, and each state decides what qualifies a person as being included in this database.
For Wisconsin, a court-ordered mental health treatment does not prohibit a person from owning guns.
After the Virginia Tech shootings, many states reconsidered what constituted a disqualification from gun ownership. A Virginia court had declared the shooter, Seung-Hui Cho, mentally ill after he was prosecuted for stalking two girls in 2005. However, Cho was still allowed to purchase two guns, which he used to kill 32 students, because he hadn’t been convicted of a felony. It is clear that Cho was not capable of rationally determining the consequences of his actions, and that he should have been prohibited from purchasing guns.
While no one can say that this would have prevented the terrible events that unfolded at the Virginia University last April, preventative measures weren’t in place.
Wisconsin legislators also rethought their list of those who should be prohibited from purchasing guns, but did not make any changes. However, with a new promise of federal funding, legislators are reconsidering the bill in hopes to get the funding and improve safety.
This past December, Congress approved legislation that allocated funding to states that have not compiled information on mentally ill citizens. In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a spokesperson for the drafter of the Wisconsin bill, Republican Sen. Alberta Darling, said, “federal funds likely would cover at least the estimated $39,000 cost of implementing the technology needed to forward Wisconsin mental health information to the national database.”
With the resources available, there are no more excuses. It is time to increase the safety mechanisms through improved background checks.
The approved bill also provides funding for citizens who wish to petition for the restoration of their gun-ownership rights. These citizens are among more than 80,000 veterans who may have mental illness on their records.
The Washington Post reported that the National Rifle Association supported the bill because it does not “contain any new restrictions on gun ownership, only measures to improve compliance with restrictions that exist.”
Currently, Wisconsin is among 17 states that do not give the federal government mental health records on residents who should be barred from owning guns. Wisconsin is behind the curve when it comes to protecting residents from citizens who should not be allowed to purchase guns.
UW-Oshkosh students might feel safe, and the students at Virginia Tech probably did too. The safety measures at this university, however effective, are undermined because guns are available to citizens who may not be capable of understanding the ideasof consequences and restraint.
After the shootings at Columbine High School, high schools around the country looked at what they could do to prevent such a terrifying incident. The same thing happened after the Virginia Tech shootings. Universities, including our own, looked at emergency action plans and sent messages to students that indeed, safety measures were in place.
It is time that our state government follows suit. National legislation is now in place to assist in the transition, and all states must disclose all information, including mental health information, that disqualifies residents from purchasing guns.
mailto://atitan@uwosh.edu
http://www.advancetitan.com/story.aspx?s=6781
When 32 students were killed at Virginia Tech almost a year ago, many students around the country shared the sadness and fear. While participating in candlelight vigils and declaring that we were all Hokies, students at UW-Oshkosh couldn’t help wondering if the same thing could happen here.
Finally, almost a year after the Virginia Tech shootings, Wisconsin legislators are reconsidering a bill that will further ensure the same cannot happen at a Wisconsin school.
The bill, which was proposed right after the Virginia Tech massacre, proposes to expand the list of Wisconsin residents who are prohibited from owning guns.
The list is part of a national database called the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and it is a list of citizens who cannot purchase guns. Each state is responsible for compiling names and information, and each state decides what qualifies a person as being included in this database.
For Wisconsin, a court-ordered mental health treatment does not prohibit a person from owning guns.
After the Virginia Tech shootings, many states reconsidered what constituted a disqualification from gun ownership. A Virginia court had declared the shooter, Seung-Hui Cho, mentally ill after he was prosecuted for stalking two girls in 2005. However, Cho was still allowed to purchase two guns, which he used to kill 32 students, because he hadn’t been convicted of a felony. It is clear that Cho was not capable of rationally determining the consequences of his actions, and that he should have been prohibited from purchasing guns.
While no one can say that this would have prevented the terrible events that unfolded at the Virginia University last April, preventative measures weren’t in place.
Wisconsin legislators also rethought their list of those who should be prohibited from purchasing guns, but did not make any changes. However, with a new promise of federal funding, legislators are reconsidering the bill in hopes to get the funding and improve safety.
This past December, Congress approved legislation that allocated funding to states that have not compiled information on mentally ill citizens. In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a spokesperson for the drafter of the Wisconsin bill, Republican Sen. Alberta Darling, said, “federal funds likely would cover at least the estimated $39,000 cost of implementing the technology needed to forward Wisconsin mental health information to the national database.”
With the resources available, there are no more excuses. It is time to increase the safety mechanisms through improved background checks.
The approved bill also provides funding for citizens who wish to petition for the restoration of their gun-ownership rights. These citizens are among more than 80,000 veterans who may have mental illness on their records.
The Washington Post reported that the National Rifle Association supported the bill because it does not “contain any new restrictions on gun ownership, only measures to improve compliance with restrictions that exist.”
Currently, Wisconsin is among 17 states that do not give the federal government mental health records on residents who should be barred from owning guns. Wisconsin is behind the curve when it comes to protecting residents from citizens who should not be allowed to purchase guns.
UW-Oshkosh students might feel safe, and the students at Virginia Tech probably did too. The safety measures at this university, however effective, are undermined because guns are available to citizens who may not be capable of understanding the ideasof consequences and restraint.
After the shootings at Columbine High School, high schools around the country looked at what they could do to prevent such a terrifying incident. The same thing happened after the Virginia Tech shootings. Universities, including our own, looked at emergency action plans and sent messages to students that indeed, safety measures were in place.
It is time that our state government follows suit. National legislation is now in place to assist in the transition, and all states must disclose all information, including mental health information, that disqualifies residents from purchasing guns.