Isla Vista Shooter Bought Guns Legally, Despite Mental Health Issues

Elliot Rodger was able to purchase three handguns legally.

In early evening hours of Friday, May 23^rd, Elliot Rodger opened fire on the scenic town of Isla Vista. Driving in a black BMW, Rodger fired off into crowds of UC Santa Barbara students enjoying a typical Friday evening out. The pop of the gun being fired was mistaken by many as the sound of firecrackers, a common enough prank for students to pull, but the carnage behind told a different story.

In all, seven individuals lost their lives. Three young men—Chen Yuan Hong, George Chen, and Weihan Wang—were discovered stabbed to death at Rodger’s apartment. Two of the men were listed as roommates. Three more individuals were killed during Rodger’s shooting spree: Veronica Elizabeth Weiss and Katherine Breann Cooper were shot on the lawn of Alpha Phi, and Christopher Ross Michael-Martinez was gunned down at the IV Deli Market. Rodger himself appears to have been killed by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. All those killed were students of UCSB and between the ages of 19 and 22.

The tragic events are bringing to light once more gun purchasing regulations and the danger of allowing mentally disturbed individuals to own firearms. Rodger had legally purchased three 9-millimeter semiautomatic handguns despite a history of mental health issues.

But Rodger didn’t have a history of being a threat to himself or others. He began rejecting treatment and medications for mental health care provided by his family when he turned 18. And because there were no explicit red flags for gun purchasing—he had no criminal history, had never made explicit threats to anyone, was not deemed a risk to himself or others, had never been ordered to submit to involuntary mental health treatment, and had no history of addiction—nothing was stopping him from getting his hands on the deadly weapons.

And according to Lindsay Nichols, staff attorney with Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, even a diagnosis of serious mental illness wouldn’t have stopped the purchases.

Elliot Rodger is an example of a young man that, though troubled, no one ever expected to go on a killing spree. This tragedy is an example of what might have been prevented with stricter gun control laws, something that many are calling for now. If Roger had been unable to purchase those three guns, the number of students killed on his spree would have been halved.

“Our campus community is shocked and saddened by the events that occurred last night in the nearby community of Isla Vista,” said a statement made Saturday by UCSB. Classes were cancelled Tuesday as students and faculty mourn for the six lives lost, with faculty available on campus to offer support and counseling to students.