Feb 18, 2008 10:09 pm US/Central
Legislators Try To Keep Guns Out Of Wrong Hands
NIU Shooting Another Reminder Of What Can Happen When Mentally Ill Individuals Acquire Firearms
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CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Ever since that Virginia Tech shootings last April, lawmakers in Illinois have been trying to keep weapons out of the hands of the mentally ill. But a new law in effect in June is too late to prevent the tragedy at Northern Illinois University.
CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports on what is being done to keep firearms out of the wrong hands.
On Monday Samantha Dehner was the last of the NIU shooting victims to leave Kishwaukee Community Hospital. Her father is thankful she's on the road to recovery, but angry about all the suffering – and questions why and how someone with mental illness was able to acquire a gun.
"When that gets brought in for a gun card, that should raise red flags somewhere and say, 'You know what, this guy's got a problem 10 years ago," said Robert Dehner.
We now know that the gunman, Steven Kazmierczak, was clearly troubled. Yet on this Illinois state police gun license application, in January of 2007, he was asked "In the past 5 years have you been a patient in any medical facility used primarily for the care or treatment of persons for mental illness?"
He was able to respond "no," because it had been more than five years since his year-long stay at a Chicago psychiatric treatment center, where he'd been found a danger to himself and others.
"We moved heaven and earth to make sure we didn't have acts of foreign [terror] on our soil here," said Sen. Daniel Kotowski (D-Park Ridge). "We should be moving heaven and earth to make sure we keep our kids safe, our families safe."
Kotowski sponsored Senate bill 940, which becomes law June 1, making patients considered a danger to themselves or others ineligible for gun permits. It's one of those rare issues where gun control advocates and the National Rifle Association agree.
"We don't want people who have mental problems to have any type of firearms either," said Richard A. Pearson of the Illinois Rifle Association.
But preventing tragedies like the one last Thursday at NIU, according to some mental health experts, requires a better understanding of what many of them are – suicides seeking attention.
"What better way to leave a mark and become infamous than take a lot of people with you. And if you don't pay attention to the suicide dynamic, you're gonna miss the opportunity to prevent them," said Dr. Carl Bell, a psychiatrist with the University of Illinois.
Dr. Bell doesn't quarrel with having to report patients potentially dangerous to themselves or others. But he says identifying the one potential mass murderer is like looking for a needle in a haystack. The real key, he says, is earlier, more effective treatment of depression -- before it spirals down into violence.
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