Editorial :

http://www.latimes.com/news/= opinion/editorials/la-ed-guns23apr23,0,5322536.story?coll=3Dla-news-comment= -editorials

=

Close the gun control loophole

= Some states fail to update a national background check database, giving mentally= ill buyers like Seung-hui Cho access to firearms.

April 23, 2007

ONE OF THE FEW g= un control issues most Americans can agree on is that it is insanity to allow = the mentally disturbed to bear arms. But that's just what happened in Virginia, where,= despite a judge's 2005 finding that Seung-hui Cho posed= an "imminent danger to self or others," Cho passed a gun background check and was permitted to purchase two firearms that he used to kill 32 pe= ople at Virginia Tech.

        =     Under federal law, the judge's warning should have been immediately reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, an FBI-r= un database that keeps track of felons, fugitives, people with domestic-violen= ce convictions or restraining orders and those deemed by a court to be mentally ill. Whoever's on the list is prohibited from buying a gun.

        =      In theory, Cho should have been rejected at the gun dealership. In f= act, there are lapses in enforcement from state to state, effectively creating a huge loophole in the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. Some states ref= use to send the NICS mental health data because of privacy concerns; others say they don't have the money to computerize criminal records; still others try= to comply but have huge backlogs. (A few states, including California, have background checks more rigorous than the NICS.)

        =     Gun control foes rightly note that most criminals don't buy their weapons legally. But Justice Department data also show that the NICS stops a lot of felons — but few people with mental illness. The FBI rejected = only 0.5% of firearm purchasers in 2004 for mental problems. State and local agencies that do their own background checks — often with access to mental health records that don't make it to the NICS database — turned down would-be gun buyers on mental grounds more than five times as often.
        =      The Justice Department has a long-standing program that gives funds = to states to improve the quality, timeliness and privacy protections of the NI= CS database. But Congress has been slashing its funding. Last year, President = Bush asked Congress for $39 million for the program and received just $10 millio= n.

        =       Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) has a bill pending to bump that total= to $125 million a year. McCarthy, whose husband was killed and her son badly injured in a 1993 commuter train attack by a crazed gunman, experienced the NICS gap in 2002, when a mental patient shot and killed a priest and parish= ioner at a church in her district. The killer passed the gun background check bec= ause the NICS did not have his data on file.

        =       McCarthy's bill has languished for five years, partly because of her approach to punishing states that don't comply. Those details can be worked out. Laws already exist to thwart the mentally disturbed from the gun marke= t; it's up to Congress and the Justice Department to make sure they get enforc= ed.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/200= 7/04/21/AR2007042100959.html

Death on the Road

The dangers of streets and highways here and around the world

Sunday, April 22, = 2007; Page B06

AS LONG AS drivers make mistakes, people will die on the road. But a report fr= om the World Health Organization argues that streets and highways here and abr= oad do not have to be as dangerous as they are now.

The organization calculated that traffic accidents are the leading cause of dea= th for 10- to 24-year-olds, rising above even the devastating scourge of HIV-A= IDS. About 1.2 million people of all age groups die in crashes around the world every year. Worst off are people in poor countries where, among other thing= s, children play in the streets, bicycle and foot paths are rare, and public education on dangerous driving is scant.

Though traffic deaths worldwide rival those caused by malaria or tuberculosis, the problem does not get as much attention, and even if it did, expensive safety regulations might not be popular or economical. Still, there are cost-effec= tive ways to reduce vulnerability in underdeveloped regions. The second edition = of "Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries," a volume recently produced by a large international public health collaboration, estimates that speed bumps cost about $5 for every year of life they save or year of disability they prevent. Development organizations and their donors should encourage such easy and inexpensive methods of reducing traffic deat= hs in countries they assist.

The problem is not as deadly in the United States, but it is still huge. Around 40,= 000 people a year die in traffic accidents in this country. Look no further than the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey this month to witness the dangers of driving, especially when you don't fol= low the rules. New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine (D) r= emains in intensive care after his speeding sport-utility vehicle crashed as its driver tried to avoid a swerving pickup. Mr. Corzine was not wearing his seat belt.

For Americans, the perennial lesson is clear: Wear your seat belt and follow traffic laws. Though improvement in roads and rules is possible, last week's WHO report underscores the fact that Americans are privileged to drive on relatively well-built and well-regulated highways and streets, and public awareness about the importance of safe driving is high. If everyone obeyed traffic laws as they know they should, tragic cases such as Mr. Corzine's would be rarer. In poor countries, meanwhil= e, there's far more that could be done.