A Real American! Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Gunman kills 2, himself in Lafayette, Louisiana, movie theater The Lafayette, Louisiana, movie theater shooter was 59-year-old John Russel Houser, Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft said Friday. Craft described Houser as "kind of a drifter" who was from Alabama and had been in Lafayette since early July, staying in a local hotel. Authorities have found various "disguises, basically" at the hotel room where he'd been staying. Houser fired at least 13 rounds, according to the police chief. "It appears he was intent on shooting and escaping," Clark said of the shooter. "The quick law enforcement response pushed him back into the theater." As to his motive, Col. Michael Edmonson of the Louisiana State Police said, "Why did he come here? Why did he do that? We don't know that." Source + Full story + pics: http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/24/us/louisiana-theater-shooting/ or http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/24/us/louisiana-theater-shooting/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Our evening news reports he has a history of mental illness and violence. The next question is if this is another NICS (federal) instant background check screwup as was the case in Charleston; if his diagnosis was never reported to NICS (some shrinks don't as a matter of "privacy"); if the firearm was stolen or what. Answer: another report said he was able to purchase the weapon at a pawn shop in Feb. 2014. Pawn shops are supposed to do NICS checks like any other dealer. Sounds like his mental health issues were not reported to NICS, which is stupid. Really stupid. psmoked 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATLien_0 Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Our evening news reports he has a history of mental illness and violence. The next question is if this is another NICS (federal) instant background check screwup as was the case in Charleston; if his diagnosis was never reported to NICS (some shrinks don't as a matter of "privacy"); if the firearm was stolen or what. Answer: another report said he was able to purchase the weapon at a pawn shop in Feb. 2014. Pawn shops are supposed to do NICS checks like any other dealer. Sounds like his mental health issues were not reported to NICS, which is stupid. Really stupid. Exactly and I saw a report earlier that said he had actually been denied a purchase back in 2006. Based on the reports so far, this guy was a "drifter" / a nut job with some history especially with domestic violence. I just wish that for once as a country we can finally have a debate about the increase in violence in this country, not a debate about one side stripping others of their guns or the debate about arming everyone. Both of those go no where and have been going no where for decades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctebah Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Simple solution: strip any vendor, that screws up with the NICS checks, of their license to sell weapons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Assuming the pawn shop used NICS, and the latter had no record of his diagnosis, then the onus is on whoever didn't report his mental health status to NICS. The reluctance (or laziness) of many clinicians and psychiatric facilities is a major weak spot in the system. So is the reluctance of state recordkeepers or school mental health clinics who often don't report as a matter of policy (misguided privacy concerns), which was a problem at both Virginia Tech and Colorado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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