Why psychiatric holds don't stop people from buying guns

Voices IAN AYRES GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

- IAN AYRES

STEPHEN MATUREN Getty Images.

THE SHOOTER in recent Minneapolis killings had a "deep fascination with mass killers."

HERE IS MUCH we still don’t know about last week's deadly attacks in Minneapolis, but after sifting through videos and other evidence left behind, researchers at the ADL Center on Extremism suggest the shooter held a “deep fascination with mass killers,” and had “detailed struggles with mental health and suicidal ideations.”

It is easy to become desensitized to the all-to-frequent stories of mass shootings where the perpetrator then ends their own life. After the recent Midtown Manhattan tower shooting, in which four people were killed including an off-duty NYPD officer working security, several newspapers suggested that eliminating such threats even at fortified buildings can be “nearly impossible.” But simple legal changes at the state or federal level could have made it harder for people like the Manhattan shooter, Shane Tamura, to obtain a firearm.

Under federal and most state laws, people who are involuntarily committed by a judicial order that deems them a likely danger to themselves or others are prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms for a period of time. Even so, many states have created “emergency hold” procedures through which individuals assessed to pose a public safety risk can be involuntarily held for up to 72 hours without a judicial order. Before July’s Manhattan shooting, Tamura had twice been subjected to such an emergency hold in Nevada because a health professional deemed him to be sufficiently dangerous.