Those last two dots

James Holmes, accused of killing 12 people in Friday’s shooting rampage in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater, appeared in Arapahoe County District Court with defense attorney Tamara Brady in Centennial, Colo. Holmes faces two first-degree murder charges for each of the 12 people killed and two attempted first-degree murder charges for every one of the 58 injured in the July 20 shooting. (AP Photo/Denver Post, RJ Sangosti, Pool, File)

It came out this week that James Holmes – the movie theatre shooter – was, in fact, on someone’s radar. He was seeing a psychiatrist who served on the University of Colorado threat assessment team, and who was ready to bring his case to the team’s attention when Holmes dropped out of school and, therefore, was officially no longer the university’s responsibility.

I guess it’s reassuring that colleges have these threat assessment teams. The question is: what can they really do? What should they be allowed to do? Should we arrest people for future murders?

No, of course not. That only happens in movies. But what can they do to prevent crime?

Pima Community College in Tuscon, Arizona famously suspended Jared Lee Loughner because of his weird behavior. Emails between college officials described him as “dark,” “creepy,” “strange,” “bizarre” and “psycho.” They finally suspended him and even contacted the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms to find out if he owned a gun.

The reply from the ATF special agent read:

“I did not come up with any gun info on this guy. Let me know if you need anything else.”

Loughner easily purchased a Glock .19 semiautomatic handgun, his background check came up clear, and five weeks after that purchase, he went to a rally for Representative Gabrielle Giffords and opened fire.

What all these incidents have in common are: a) the exhibition of bizarre behavior, and b) the decision to buy one or more guns. Are we willing to connect those two dots?

Listen to the Dave Ross Commentary:


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