Az shooting revives gun debate
Jan-12-2011

Jared Loughner had trouble with the law, was rejected by the Army after flunking a drug test and was considered so mentally unstable that he was banned from his college campus, where officials considered him a threat to other students and faculty.

But the 22-year-old had no trouble buying the Glock semiautomatic pistol that authorities say he used in the Tucson rampage Saturday that killed six and wounded 14, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

It prompted gun-control advocates on Tuesday to call for changes to the federal background check system, saying the federal government isn't doing enough to prevent drug abusers from getting firearms.

"The law says that drug abusers can't buy guns," said New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who co-founded a gun-control organization of mayors. "Even though Jared Loughner was rejected by the military for drug use and arrested on drug charges, he was able to pass a background check and buy a gun."

The gun-control groups, including Mayors Against Illegal Guns and the Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence, say that thousands of drug abusers might be slipping through the cracks. But gun-rights proponents say more regulation would not have stopped the shooting.

Loughner bought the shotgun within a year of both his rejection for the Army and his arrest for possession of drug paraphernalia, said court records and military sources.

There is nothing to indicate that anything went wrong in the process leading up to that purchase. Loughner's personal history did not disqualify him under federal rules, and Arizona doesn't regulate gun sales. His criminal charges were ultimately dismissed, the Army information was private and Pima Community College isn't saying whether it shared its concerns about Loughner with anyone besides his parents.

He cleared a federal background check and bought the pistol at a big-box sports store Nov. 30 -- two months after he was suspended by the college. He customized the weapon with an extended ammunition clip that would have been illegal six years earlier.

Background checks are designed in part to weed out prospective gun buyers who have felony criminal records, have a history of domestic violence or are in the country illegally. None of that applied to Loughner.

Arizona eased gun rules last year when it passed a law allowing residents 21 and older to conceal and carry a weapon without a permit. Gun owners can bring concealed weapons into bars and restaurants, and legislators are considering allowing students and teachers to have weapons in schools.

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik berated Republican lawmakers who have sought to further ease state gun laws. "I think we're the Tombstone of the United States," the Democrat said, referring to the Wild West town populated by gunslingers.

Charles Heller, co-founder of an Arizona group that promotes gun rights, said more regulation is not a solution. "Why don't we ban murder? ... Murders are illegal and people do it anyway," he said. "There is no way to weed people out."

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