US mass shooter bought gun despite mental issues
John Russell Houser, who shot eleven people in a Louisiana movie theater, was able to obtain firearms despite years of documented mental issues.
According to a Georgia judge’s order from 2008, Houser was committed to involuntary mental health treatment because he was deemed a clear danger to himself and the society.
Houser’s family accused the mass shooter of threatening behavior and even warned the local officials about his history of bipolar disorder.
His family went as far as taking all his guns and persuading a judge to issue a protective order from Houser once the therapy ended.
However, only six years after the court order, he walked into a pawn shop in Alabama and came out while packing a .40-caliber handgun, the one he used in the mass shooting.
Court records also suggest that Houser’s mental problems were so serious that he should have been reported to certain databases that help prevent people like him from buying firearms.
It seems, however, that the legal negligence in Houser’s case did not end here as he still managed to purchase a gun despite being denied a permit for concealed weapons by Alabama police because of his arson and domestic violence records in 2006.
Federal law also failed to rule against Houser, even with his involuntary commission to mental illness treatment, which is generally enough for a person to be prohibited from purchasing weapons in the United States.
If reported, Houser’s mental conditions would have been implemented into FBI’s background check system which is used to determine eligibility of gun buyers.
Legal experts believe the biggest reason that such obvious signs were missed in the process was the largely decentralized court system in Louisiana which is spread over 159 counties.
It is feared that some of the judges in such a huge legal system would always fail to report every mental health commitment.
In the mass shooting at Grand 16 theater last Thursday, Houser shot 11 moviegoers, killing at least three of them. Over 100 people were watching the film “Trainwreck,” when the incident took place.
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