Recent Arkansas legislation could play a role in preventing mass shootings

Thanks to Sen. Robert Thompson, Arkansas enacted legislation in the 2007 session that could have a hand in preventing mass shootings like the one that occurred in Blacksburg this week. SB184 (now Act 463) requires Circuit Clerks to turn over involuntary commitment orders to ACIC (database maintained by the Arkansas Crime Information Center). These Orders were previously merely filed with the clerk like any other order signed in Circuit Court. The purpose of this recent legislation is to prevent people adjudicated as a danger to themselves or others from purchasing firearms.

As you know by now, Cho Seung-Hui, the Virginia Tech gunman, was adjudicated as a danger to himself and others and was involuntarily committed in December, 2005. He was still able to purchase two firearms. Had his order of commitment been submitted to the NCIC (or Viginia's version of ACIC), it may have prevented his gun purchase -- at least on the open market. Whether he would've obtained a gun through other channels is debatable, but the plan could've been more easily foiled by his mere attempt at making a purchase. Act 463 is designed to prevent such easy access to firearms by the involuntarily committed in Arkansas.