Janet Reno-Era Policy Kept Loughner Off FBI List

[Catherine Vincent]

Jan. 19, 2011

JANET RENO-ERA POLICY KEPT LOUGHNER OFF FBI LIST

An old policy memo from the Clinton administration paved the way for accused Arizona gunman Jared Loughner to buy his first firearm.

Put in place by then-Attorney General Janet Reno, the policy prohibited the military from reporting certain drug abusers to the FBI, which manages the national list of prohibited gun-buyers, federal officials said.

Loughner attempted to enlist in the Army in December 2008 but was rejected because he failed a drug-screening process, Army officials said. Within a year, Loughner bought a Harrington & Richardson shotgun from Sportsman's Warehouse in Tucson.

Complete Coverage: Tragedy in Tucson

In November, he went back to the same store and purchased a Glock 19 - the one he is accused of using in the Jan. 8 rampage that killed six and wounded 13, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D).

Federal law since 1968 has prohibited gun sales to anyone who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. Licensed dealers have been required to check the backgrounds of gun-buyers since 1994. But the Reno policy told federal agencies not to report people who had voluntarily given drug tests for fear it would deter them from seeking treatment, federal officials said.

more ---> http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/19/politics/washingtonpost/main7262057.shtml?tag=cbsnewsSectionsArea;cbsnewsSectionsArea.3

:eyes:

[RC]

1. So, it's Clinton fault then?

We already know the Republicans Hate Machine isn't the cause.

[NNN0LHI]

4. Thats exactly what the right wing freaks would have us believe if we let them

Almost like Bush was not president for 8 years after Clinton and Reno were long gone. Why didn't Bush fix this problem?

The right wing freaks and the useful idiots who spread their bullshit make me sick.

Don

[FBaggins]

2. Is there any reason to believe that drugs contributed to his actions?

If not... so what? It doesn't help stop the next guy.

[rfranklin]

3. Yes, but he could have bought guns at a gun show...

or on the street. So what did drugs have to do with it?

[aikoaiko]

5. Hard to say if the Reno policy would have changed anything or not

Just like its hard to say whether or not having 10 round magazines would have changed anything or not.

Having said that, it may be a good idea to revisit that policy.

[Johonny]

8. +1

[qb]

6. It's not one administration or the other. It's the whole freakin' gun culture in this country.

[saras]

7. What's drugs got to do with it?

I have no reason to believe that anything about Loughner's relationship to, or use of, drugs had anything significant to do with his murders.

Why are we so afraid to say we shouldn't have let him have guns because he was raving about killing people? Is there some special-interest group that wants to rave about killing people, and be allowed to possess firearms, that we want to exclude Loughner from, because he was different in some essential way from the rest of them?

If so, what is the nature of the essential difference? It's going to take one hell of a lot of evidence to convince me that the difference is that he didn't restrict himself to alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine.