It may have been discussed here, at length but... if the Buffalo shooter had prior problems

[question everything]

how did he manage to get a gun?

[Skittles]

1. ?

since when did having problems prevent anyone in America from being armed

[onecaliberal]

2. He obtained the gun legally.

[Marcuse]

3. Who knows?

Robert Donald, 75, the owner of Vintage Firearms in Endicott, N.Y., told NPR that the firearm was purchased in 2022. And he confirmed that he had run a background check on Payton Gendron, the 18-year-old suspect, but that the report showed nothing.

The purchase took place months after New York state police briefly took Gendron into custody after he made a threat about a shooting, as authorities have described.

The gunman had plans to continue his rampage, says Buffalo police commissioner
Last June, state police investigated Gendron and ordered a psychiatric evaluation. After a day and a half in a hospital, he was released, authorities say. Afterward, he did not remain on law enforcement's radar.

The timing of the gun purchase, along with Donald's report of a clean background check, raises questions about why a police-ordered mental health evaluation would not have appeared on the report.[link:https://www.npr.org/2022/05/16/1099186443/buffalo-suspect-gun-rifle|

[question everything]

7. Thanks. I hope that someone will investigate this

I thought that having documented mental problems should preclude selling firearms to them.

[Zeitghost]

18. Generally

There needs to be a judgement by a court in order to deprive someone of the right to purchase a weapon (due process and all that). Federal law requires an involuntary commitment or a court ruling you mentally incompetent (usually coming from a not-guilty due to mental illness ruling in a criminal trial). Some states also have red flag laws. I don't believe any of those things happened in this case.

[sarisataka]

4. No one entered the information

About his talking about shooting his school or psychiatric evaluation into the system.

The NY SAFE Act is designed to remove firearms from those who seek to do harm to themselves or others. This means keeping the minority of individuals with serious mental illness who may be dangerous away from access to firearms. This law should not dissuade any individual from seeking mental health services they need.

The SAFE Act amends the Mental Hygiene Law (MHL) by adding section 9.46, which requires that mental health professionals who are currently providing treatment services to an individual make a report, if they conclude, using reasonable professional judgment, that the individual is likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to self or others.  

https://safeact.ny.gov/mental-health
A background check only works if there is background to check.

[question everything]

8. I hope that a comprehensive analyses be done - by the state, by the FBI, whoever

to determine whether such events need to be documented and flagged.

[Ocelot II]

5. Whatever his problems might have been, they either were unknown

to authorities and therefore there was no record of them, or else they were not the sort of problems that wouldn't prevent him from buying a gun legally - generally speaking, people can't buy guns if they have been convicted of certain crimes or were subject to certain kinds of court orders related to domestic violence, or have a known, serious mental condition.

[USALiberal]

12. Some countries still allow torture, maybe you should look into it. Nt

[VarryOn]

17. I'm not proud of it. Torture and capital punishment is morally wrong...

Killing and torturing is wrong. But, in some cases, I admit, it feels good.

[USALiberal]

22. Seek help!!

[VarryOn]

25. Thanks for the advice. I'm flawed, I know. Nt

[UTUSN]

9. My question: How can somebody able to modify a weapon and carry out planning

use an insanity defense?

[SoCalDavidS]

10. It Is Easier To Get A Gun In America Than It Is To Get A Library Card

Hmmmm...18 years old, and no prior record.

Oh well, I guess he has a record now.

[Marcuse]

11. Or a beer.

[uponit7771]

13. +1, ... or easy access to a voting machine for non-whites

[Mr.Bill]

14. Could it be that he was still a minor when he had the psych

evaluation, so it wasn't on his record?

[Igirl]

15. I'm surprised he

Could buy a rifle at 18 in New York. They have pretty strict gun laws.

[Straw Man]

21. 18 is the federal-mandated minimum age for buying a rifle.

New York City requires special permitting, with a minimum age of 21. Upstate follows the federal law: 18 years old and a background check for rifles. Handguns are a whole different story.

[LeftInTX]

16. He was "checked out" at a hospital and released the next day

It probably didn't meet any legal threshold, such as "serious mental" condition

[milestogo]

19. In America the only reason for not having a gun is not wanting one.

Pretty soon they'll be giving them away in front of supermarkets and high schools.

[question everything]

20. I thought that mental illness can be a block for directly purchasing a gun

At least, ai though there have been talks about it. Perhaps never progressed beyond talks.

And I don't think that age should be a factor. Too many high school kids committed mass murders in the past few years.

[dwayneb]

23. Heard on NBC news, the gun was a gift from his father

They claim they knew nothing of an aberrant behavior from their child. Of course and normal person would view a parent gifting an 18 year old with an AR-15 as bizarre and deviant, but that's another story.

[Dial H For Hero]

24. Unless I'm mistaken, the gun gifted to him by his father was a .22 rifle when he was 16.

He bought the AR-15 on his own, as far as I know.

[Tickle]

26. I heard the prosecutor

yesterday as I was driving home say

The Defense lawyer no longer wants to have the shooter take any mental test and he said the talk about the shooter having emotional problems is now a mute point.

No more discussion, the shooter is a normal white supremacist. period