Editorial: Reforming gun control

Tuesday, June 19, 2007 | 6:57 a.m.

I t can be seen now that a tragedy on the magnitude of the Virginia Tech shootings in April was almost inevitable.

After the shootings, while researching the national database that gun sellers check before completing a sale, Congress found that 21 million records involving people's criminal past and mental illnesses are not accessible. It also found that millions of accessible records lack updated information.

This is why Seung-Hui Cho, who had been found by a court to be a danger to himself because of a mental illness, was able to walk into a gun store and pass an instant background check. He walked out with two pistols he later used to kill 32 people and himself on the campus.

The national database began operating in 1998 and is known as the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS. During Congress' examination of this system, it found that court and law enforcement officials across the country were hopelessly backlogged when it came to transferring records to the NICS.

Last week the House passed a long overdue bill mandating that states update their records - including those involving mentally ill people - and automate the process by which they are provided to the NICS . The bill also provides $250 million a year for three years to help the states fund this critical task.

The bill is now in the Senate, where it is expected to pass. The National Rifle Association, the country's most influential gun lobby, endorsed the bill in exchange for some reasonable provisions, including assurances that people whose mental health issues have been resolved will not be permanently barred from owning guns.

We hope that this bill becomes law and that technical assistance will be available to states if they have difficulty automating their records. This law will become effective only when states have worked through their backlogs and added the mental illness records. There is an urgent need for them to do so quickly.