Allen says mental illness does not automatically lead to ********, and he fears a backlash.
"Would we go through the records of every Virginian who has ever been to the doctor concerned about anxiety and depression, and lock them up? It's simply inconsistent with the American way."
Federal law prevents the sale of guns to those who have been judged mentally ill. But in Cho's case, since he was never actually committed to a hospital, the judge's order was never entered into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, a database of people disqualified from *** purchases.
So he was allowed to purchase the two handguns used in the massacre.
