Word: virginia
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...also worth remembering that the vast majority of violent crimes - some estimates say 95% - are committed by people who are not technically mentally ill. So Virginia Tech was not typical, in this regard, and sharing mental health data is not a comprehensive solution...
...Nationwide, about 10 more states, including Illinois, have started reporting mental health information to the federal database since the Virginia Tech tragedy - bringing the total to 32. Other states are considering laws to improve their reporting, but many of those bills are not expected to pass into law. For now, in other words, 18 states still would not report someone like Seung Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech killer, to the federal database...
...Congress and the White House point to the bill they did pass after Virginia Tech as evidence of progress. But that law, which would create financial incentives for states to improve their reporting to the federal database, is not very impressive. It just authorizes new incentives; it doesn't appropriate the money for them. In Congress, nothing is real until the cash is actually appropriated (which in this case could happen this summer or fall or... never...
...knows how many weapons are sold this way. Gun-control proponents say it could be nearly 40% of guns; gun-rights groups say the number is under 3% - mostly just family members selling rifles to each other over kitchen tables. A bill to close the gun-show loophole in Virginia was killed by legislators after the Virginia Tech massacre. Congress has repeatedly failed to pass similar legislation...
...major lesson of Virginia Tech appears to be that most subsequent legislative changes happen only in the locale of the incident - and even then only incrementally, in a very narrow way that applies to the specific shooting and not to the gun problem generally. "I'm very concerned that there is this level of acceptance - that these shootings are just going to happen no matter what," says Thom Mannard, president of States United to Prevent Gun Violence. "What never really seems to occur is a real, thorough discussion on the fact that often the only common denominator in these tragedies...