North Carolina AG Cooper Calls On Legislature To Keep Guns From Mentally Ill

April 15, 2008 -- Lesson learned from Virginia Tech shooting one year ago must be put into practice in NC Raleigh: On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper today called on lawmakers to prohibit people who have been involuntarily committed from purchasing guns.

Spent 9mm shells, North Carolina: Photo by Carl M. (CC)

“As we pause to remember the victims and their families, we must learn from these tragedies to make our campuses safer,” Cooper said. “One lesson we’ve learned is that people who are dangerously mentally ill should not be able to buy a gun."

Cooper is asking legislators to direct County Clerks of Court to report involuntary commitments to the National Instant Background Check System (NICS) which is used to perform background checks for gun purchases.

Following the shootings at Virginia Tech, Cooper convened a task force to find ways to make North Carolina college and university campuses safer. In January, the task force issued a number of recommendations, including sharing involuntary commitment orders with NICS.

Cooper shared copies of the task force’s report with legislators, campus leaders and law enforcement earlier this year. Several campuses are already implementing some of the panel’s proposals, such as adopting multiple alert systems to notify students, faculty and staff about incidents on campus.

The task force also proposed that the state examine a process to grant relief to individuals who have been involuntarily committed but can demonstrate that they have recovered from their mental illness. Other key recommendations included establishing a Center for Campus Safety, better coordination between campuses and first responders, and forming campus threat assessment teams to identify mentally ill students and connect them with help.

One year ago tomorrow, disturbed student Seung Hui Cho shot and killed 32 students and faculty at Virginia Tech. The next day, Cooper brought together leaders from law enforcement, the University of North Carolina System, private colleges and universities, and Community Colleges to form the task force.

Task force members held meetings across the state where they heard from more than 30 experts, including the FBI Agent who investigated the Virginia Tech shootings and the deputy director of the panel that reviewed Virginia Tech’s response. The task force issued its report to Cooper on January 10, 2008. A complete copy of the report is available at www.ncdoj.gov.

“Schools are working hard to put new safety measures in place,” said Cooper. “We owe it to students, faculty and their families to do all we can to prevent a horrible shooting like this from happening here."

Source: North Carolina Attorney General

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