Movie theater shooter's mental problems didn't stop gun buy

[Lite Beer]

Movie theater shooter's mental problems didn't stop gun buy

By RAY HENRY, JAY REEVES and REBECCA SANTANA

LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — John Russell Houser was deeply troubled long before he shot 11 people in a movie theater in Louisiana, but decades of mental problems didn't keep him from buying the handgun he used.

Despite obvious and public signs of mental illness — most importantly, a Georgia judge's order committing him to mental health treatment against his will as a danger to himself and others in 2008 — Houser was able to walk into an Alabama pawn shop six years later and buy a .40-caliber handgun.

It was the same weapon Houser used to kill two people and wound nine others before killing himself at a Thursday showing of "Trainwreck." Three people remained hospitalized Saturday.

Court records reviewed by The Associated Press strongly suggest Houser should have been reported to the state and federal databases used to keep people with serious mental illnesses from buying firearms, legal experts said.

"It sure does seem like something failed," said Judge Susan Tate, who presides over a probate court in Athens, Georgia, and has studied issues relating to weapons and the mentally ill. "I have no idea how he was able to get a firearm."

Houser never should have been able to buy a gun, said Sheriff Heath Taylor in Russell County, Alabama, whose office denied him a concealed weapons permit in 2006 based on arson and domestic violence allegations, even though the victims declined to pursue charges.

Houser racked up plenty of complaints, but no evidence has surfaced of any criminal conviction that would have kept him from passing the background check required for many gun purchases. Federal law does generally prohibit the purchase or possession of a firearm by anyone who has ever been involuntarily committed for mental health treatment.

That's what happened to Houser in 2008 after his family accused him of threatening behavior, warning authorities that he had a history of bipolar disorder and was making ominous statements. His wife removed his guns and together, the family persuaded a judge to issue a protective order keeping him away once he left the hospital.

At that point, court officials should have reported Houser's involuntary mental commitment to the Georgia database that feeds the FBI's background check system, which provides for a delay of up to three days when records suggest a buyer may be ineligible.

Questions about gaps in the system also arose after James Holmes bought firearms to kill 12 people and wound 58 others in a Denver suburb three years ago, and after Dylann Storm Roof allegedly used a gun he bought this year to murder nine churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina.

But while both young men showed signs of trouble, neither had criminal convictions, nor were they hospitalized against their will.

Roof had admitted to illegal drug possession in a pending criminal case, however, which under federal rules would have been enough to disqualify him from a gun purchase even though he wasn't convicted.

But the FBI background check examiner never saw Roof's arrest report because the wrong arresting agency was listed in state records, and the three-day hold timed out without a clear answer, so the gun dealer used his discretion to complete the sale.

When Houser tried to buy his gun on Feb. 26, 2014, the system only briefly delayed his purchase, according to a federal official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation. The seller was advised the following day that the sale could proceed.

It was Carroll County Probate Judge Betty Cason who authorized authorities to detain Houser in 2008, according to court records. Her court also issued the order involuntarily committing Houser to the West Central Regional Hospital in Columbus, according to legal filings from an attorney representing Houser's wife and other family members.

Judge Tate, who was not involved in Houser's case, said an involuntarily commitment order normally prompts a judge to file a report with the Georgia Crime Information Center, which keeps about 5,000 records on people who cannot guy guns because they have been judged insane, involuntarily hospitalized or legally depend on someone else to manage their affairs. Those state records feed the FBI's database.

It was not clear Saturday whether Cason filed such a report. She did not return a phone message seeking comment.

Like many states, Georgia has a highly decentralized court system, spread over 159 counties. Experts have long worried that probate judges are not reporting every mental health commitment.

The former director of Georgia's criminal records database, Terry Gibbons, wrote in a 2013 email obtained by the AP that "some courts are reluctant to report mental health records due to perceived privacy/HIPPA concerns." Gibbons has since retired and could not be reached for comment Saturday.

"I suspect there may be some courts where the reporting is not done because they are just having trouble keeping up with the day-to-day work of people coming into their offices needing their help," Tate said.

A month after Houser bought the gun last year, the family that bought his foreclosed home filed suit to evict him. By May 2014, a judge ordered him out.

Houser finally left, but only after tampering with the gas lines, throwing paint and pouring concrete in the plumbing, among other vandalism, the sheriff said. But no charges were filed.

This March, Kellie Houser finally filed for divorce, saying their relationship was irretrievably broken and his whereabouts were unknown. He called her the next week, threatening her again, she wrote in a court document.

Then, she got a call from Houser's mother, saying he had threatened to kill himself outside his mother's retirement community if she didn't give him money. She wrote that she urged the mother to seek have him hospitalized again. Instead, police said, the woman gave her son $5,000.

Houser kept writing on right-wing extremist message boards after leaving Alabama. He praised Adolf Hitler and advised people not to underestimate "the power of the lone wolf," according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the hate-group watchdog that tracked Houser since 2005, when he registered to meet with former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

Outside the theater, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said Friday that "now is not the time" to discuss gun control, a position backed Saturday by rock musician and gun enthusiast Ted Nugent, who was in Lafayette for a sportsmen's exposition and came by to lay some flowers.

Asked whether Houser should have been allowed to purchase a gun, Nugent said "I think it's inappropriate to even approach that subject. I think it's all about prayers for the victims and the families."

___

Associated Press reporter Alicia A. Caldwell in Washington contributed to this report. Henry reported from Atlanta and Reeves from Birmingham, Alabama.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-07-25

[samran]

Nothing to see here. Only the 204th mass shooting in he US this year...

[BudRight]

...in a "gun free" zone.

[sirineou]

Nothing to see here. Only the 204th mass shooting in he US this year...

Give us a chance, the year is young

if only, everyone had a gun in that movie theater, they would had being able to defend themselves.

More guns and quick draw holsters, that's what we need

[LomSak27]

What makes America great

Say I'm drunk or on drugs. If I drive the police stop me, yank me out and with luck I am in jail without getting tazed or beaten. I get kicked out of fine dining establishments like Denny's, Chic-fil-A or Waffle House.

However, no laws against making a purchase when boozed up or popping. Hey I'd like a 357 and a bushmaster please. Mental Illness, that's relative too.

[sdanielmcev]

Nothing to see here. Only the 204th mass shooting in he US this year...

Got any evidence to back that up?

This is a mental health issue, not a gun control issue. But, since the left thinks that mental health can be treated with puppies and kitties, not to mention their buddies in the drug industry, people like this have access to firearms. And before the left whines and cries that somehow conservatives are to blame, remember as late as 2008 Congress and the Presidency were all Democrat. And they did nothing.

[LomSak27]

But, since the left thinks that mental health can be treated with puppies and kitties, not to mention their buddies in the drug industry, people like this have access to firearms

Ahh so its liberals that have gutted any attempts and regulating who owns guns and let the mentally ill buy em. Gotta love that conservative mentality; We can't defend it, can't explain, won't discuss it, but we will lie about it

[sirineou]

Nothing to see here. Only the 204th mass shooting in he US this year...

Got any evidence to back that up?

This is a mental health issue, not a gun control issue. But, since the left thinks that mental health can be treated with puppies and kitties, not to mention their buddies in the drug industry, people like this have access to firearms. And before the left whines and cries that somehow conservatives are to blame, remember as late as 2008 Congress and the Presidency were all Democrat. And they did nothing.

it is funny you would say that, 'cause I always thought the pro-gun crowd had mental health issues

[robblok]

Nothing to see here. Only the 204th mass shooting in he US this year...

Give us a chance, the year is young

if only, everyone had a gun in that movie theater, they would had being able to defend themselves.

More guns and quick draw holsters, that's what we need

Nah mate every US citizen should be allowed to own an A bomb as mutual deterrence seeing how good guns work.

[sirineou]

Nothing to see here. Only the 204th mass shooting in he US this year...

Give us a chance, the year is young

if only, everyone had a gun in that movie theater, they would had being able to defend themselves.

More guns and quick draw holsters, that's what we need

Nah mate every US citizen should be allowed to own an A bomb as mutual deterrence seeing how good guns work.

PND's (Personal Nuclear Device) the resulting mutual destruction should be a deterrent to crime.

A mugger sticks a gun to my face and demands money, BOOM , I take out a square mile of downtown NYC...

I like to see the next mugger who will <deleted> with me.

[MZurf]

Nothing to see here. Only the 204th mass shooting in he US this year...

Got any evidence to back that up?

This is a mental health issue, not a gun control issue. But, since the left thinks that mental health can be treated with puppies and kitties, not to mention their buddies in the drug industry, people like this have access to firearms. And before the left whines and cries that somehow conservatives are to blame, remember as late as 2008 Congress and the Presidency were all Democrat. And they did nothing.

Actually it really is a gun control issue. You can't prevent people from getting mental disorders but you can make it more difficult for them to obtain guns.

[CMNightRider]

The United States is 3rd in murders throughout the world. However, if you take out Chicago, Detroit, Washington D.C., and New Orleans, the United States is 4th from the bottom for murders. These four cities happen to have the toughest gun control laws in the nation......or......maybe if we make guns illegal, then no one will get shot anymore. That's how we stopped everyone from doing drugs.

Edited July 26, 2015 by CMNightRider

[samran]

Nothing to see here. Only the 204th mass shooting in he US this year...

Got any evidence to back that up?

This is a mental health issue, not a gun control issue. But, since the left thinks that mental health can be treated with puppies and kitties, not to mention their buddies in the drug industry, people like this have access to firearms. And before the left whines and cries that somehow conservatives are to blame, remember as late as 2008 Congress and the Presidency were all Democrat. And they did nothing.

http://shootingtracker.com/wiki/Mass_Shootings_in_2015

204 in the 204th day of the year.

Keep telling yourself it's a mental health issue. Nothing to see here. Move along now....

[samran]

The United States is 3rd in murders throughout the world. However, if you take out Chicago, Detroit, Washington D.C., and New Orleans, the United States is 4th from the bottom for murders. These four cities happen to have the toughest gun control laws in the nation......or......maybe if we make guns illegal, then no one will get shot anymore. That's how we stopped everyone from doing drugs.

You are over looking the word 'United' in United States.

Last I looked you were one country.

[sawati]

Going down the drain,that country.

Edited July 26, 2015 by sawati

[chuckd]

Nothing to see here. Only the 204th mass shooting in he US this year...

Got any evidence to back that up?

This is a mental health issue, not a gun control issue. But, since the left thinks that mental health can be treated with puppies and kitties, not to mention their buddies in the drug industry, people like this have access to firearms. And before the left whines and cries that somehow conservatives are to blame, remember as late as 2008 Congress and the Presidency were all Democrat. And they did nothing.

In actuality, Democrats had control of both Houses of Congress and the White House as late as 2010.

Why didn't they do something then?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

I found the link on my own and did a little research.

1. This site does not use the FBI standard of a mass shooting which calls for four or more deceased as a qualifier.

2. This site has arbitrarily lowered a mass shooting to only four or more people being shot, with no fatality qualifier.

3. Of the 204 mass shootings this site claims, 83 of them involved no fatalities.

4. There were a total of 262 deaths from the 204 totals, an average of 1.28 deaths per incident

5. Of the remaining death related shootings, the average number of deaths per incident was 2.10.

6. Using the FBI accepted bench mark of 4 deaths per incidence, there were 23 incidents involving the death of 112 souls, an average of 4.87 per incident. Of these 23 incidents, the shooters were unknown in 11 of them with 12 of the shooters being identified.

7. Of the total of 204 claimed incidents, the shooters were unknown in 163 of them.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

What's my point you ask? I have a couple.

In these same 204 incidents, the shooters were unknown in 163 of them...79.9%

Of the total of 204 incidents labeled by this site as mass shootings, 83 (40.69%) of them involved no fatalities.

Of the remaining 125 incidents (59.31%), only 24 (11.76%) of them involved the FBI standard of 4 or more deaths to qulify as mass shootings.

These same 24 incidents involved the deaths of 62 individuals.

My point is with a US estimated population of 318.9 million, the chances of your being murdered in an FBI recognized mass shooting is...

...1 in every 5,143,548...

While every death is tragic, this is very simply more of the anti-gun hysteria that surrounds these tragic events.

[Basil B]

Nothing to see here. Only the 204th mass shooting in he US this year...

Give over, there were only two mass murders in the states this week (to make it to the international headlines, that is)...

The NRA keeps quoting the 2nd Amendment but surely does not the American constitution have any clauses "Right to Life".

Edited July 26, 2015 by Basil B

[chuckd]

But, since the left thinks that mental health can be treated with puppies and kitties, not to mention their buddies in the drug industry, people like this have access to firearms

Ahh so its liberals that have gutted any attempts and regulating who owns guns and let the mentally ill buy em. Gotta love that conservative mentality; We can't defend it, can't explain, won't discuss it, but we will lie about it

The US Supreme Court has also had a few things to say about the right to bear arms.

One of the problems with the mentally ill issue is the patient/Doctor confidentiality issue.

Rather than blame the lack of gun control, how about passing legislation to require Psychiatrists and medical doctors to report unbalanced individuals to the authorities so they cannot purchase guns?

The mental health industry is getting a free pass on this issue and they are the ones that should be held responsible when one of their patients goes postal and commits murder.

What would you propose the US do about the mental health problem?

[Basil B]

Nothing to see here. Only the 204th mass shooting in he US this year...

Got any evidence to back that up?

This is a mental health issue, not a gun control issue. But, since the left thinks that mental health can be treated with puppies and kitties, not to mention their buddies in the drug industry, people like this have access to firearms. And before the left whines and cries that somehow conservatives are to blame, remember as late as 2008 Congress and the Presidency were all Democrat. And they did nothing.

In actuality, Democrats had control of both Houses of Congress and the White House as late as 2010.

Why didn't they do something then?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

I found the link on my own and did a little research.

1. This site does not use the FBI standard of a mass shooting which calls for four or more deceased as a qualifier.

2. This site has arbitrarily lowered a mass shooting to only four or more people being shot, with no fatality qualifier.

3. Of the 204 mass shootings this site claims, 83 of them involved no fatalities.

4. There were a total of 262 deaths from the 204 totals, an average of 1.28 deaths per incident

5. Of the remaining death related shootings, the average number of deaths per incident was 2.10.

6. Using the FBI accepted bench mark of 4 deaths per incidence, there were 23 incidents involving the death of 112 souls, an average of 4.87 per incident. Of these 23 incidents, the shooters were unknown in 11 of them with 12 of the shooters being identified.

7. Of the total of 204 claimed incidents, the shooters were unknown in 163 of them.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

What's my point you ask? I have a couple.

In these same 204 incidents, the shooters were unknown in 163 of them...79.9%

Of the total of 204 incidents labeled by this site as mass shootings, 83 (40.69%) of them involved no fatalities.

Of the remaining 125 incidents (59.31%), only 24 (11.76%) of them involved the FBI standard of 4 or more deaths to qulify as mass shootings.

These same 24 incidents involved the deaths of 62 individuals.

My point is with a US estimated population of 318.9 million, the chances of your being murdered in an FBI recognized mass shooting is...

...1 in every 5,143,548...

While every death is tragic, this is very simply more of the anti-gun hysteria that surrounds these tragic events.

Does not matter which party is in government, anyone stands up and suggests gun control they are soon reminded where their campaign funds come from, Obama is in Kenya and lecturing them about corruption, he should look closer to home before spouting off...

[Chicog]

Nothing to see here. Only the 204th mass shooting in he US this year...

Got any evidence to back that up?

This is a mental health issue, not a gun control issue. But, since the left thinks that mental health can be treated with puppies and kitties, not to mention their buddies in the drug industry, people like this have access to firearms. And before the left whines and cries that somehow conservatives are to blame, remember as late as 2008 Congress and the Presidency were all Democrat. And they did nothing.

All that last sentence proves is that the NRA has a disproportionate level of influence over American politicians.

[slipperylobster]

strange...that the same people who believe the US is "going downhill" or is "a dangerous place"...should choose Thailand to live out their dreams. I am not going to research this overly much...but I see where there are mysterious deaths here almost daily.

Most things do not even make it to the International News...where in the US, everything makes International News.

surveys are utterly useless crap, but shootings/killings down south, alone, have surpassed th 6000 mark (in the last ten years). Mind you, that does not even include the rest of thailand. So strange, that 224 out of 300 million should make it such a bad place...and Thailand such a peaceful one.

Edited July 26, 2015 by slipperylobster

[CMNightRider]

The United States is 3rd in murders throughout the world. However, if you take out Chicago, Detroit, Washington D.C., and New Orleans, the United States is 4th from the bottom for murders. These four cities happen to have the toughest gun control laws in the nation......or......maybe if we make guns illegal, then no one will get shot anymore. That's how we stopped everyone from doing drugs.

You are over looking the word 'United' in United States.

Last I looked you were one country.

I'm sure you are either trying to be witty or funny but I'm not certain what you mean.

[slipperylobster]

perhaps 204 victims...but certainly not 204 cases of mass shootings.... that would be over the top, indeed.

I am pretty certain there was four or five. That is too many..but people are exaggerating here.

[Gandtee]

I have a suspicion that all gun buyers have a touch of mental problems.

[chuckd]

And I have a suspicion that some people don't have a clue what they are talking about.

[sirineou]

I suspect the battler did it in the library with an candlestick .

[chuckd]

I suspect the battler did it in the library with an candlestick .

"Battler" or "butler"?

[mikebike]

What would you propose the US do about the mental health problem?

Since the occurrence mental health issues in the US are roughly equal to other developed western nations, yet gun crimes are much higher, I would say you are drawing a straw man... so just erase it!

[chuckd]

Translation:

I don't have a clue.

[sdanielmcev]

But, since the left thinks that mental health can be treated with puppies and kitties, not to mention their buddies in the drug industry, people like this have access to firearms

Ahh so its liberals that have gutted any attempts and regulating who owns guns and let the mentally ill buy em. Gotta love that conservative mentality; We can't defend it, can't explain, won't discuss it, but we will lie about it

Please show me where I lied. And, since I'm not a conservative, keep swallowing your own venom. I am talking about the subject, but in your blind hatred for anyone that disagrees with you, you can't see it. There are sufficient gun control laws. Propose a new one that is better than the existing ones.

You can cite all the statistics ever written, but not one will show how to stop a killing. That is the issue. And in this case, the crime could have become even more heinous. A hand saw, or a hammer. With his mental history, he would've got the job done.