Bobby Jindal Claims Lafayette Gunman “Wouldn't Have Been Able To Buy A Gun” If He Had Been Involuntarily Committed In Louisiana

MSNBC.com: Gunman Who Killed Two And Wounded Nine In Lafayette, LA Movie Theater Was Once Involuntarily Committed In Georgia. MSNBC.com reported that John Houser, the man who opened fire in a Louisiana movie theater on July 23, had been involuntarily committed to a hospital for psychiatric reasons in Georgia, which likely should have been entered into the national background check system and disqualified him from buying a gun. Houser apparently passed a background check when he bought gun in 2014 from an Alabama pawn shop:

Houser had been involuntarily hospitalized for mental conditions in Georgia and denied a concealed weapons permit in Alabama in 2006 because of a domestic violence complaint and a previous arrest connected to an arson plot.

Jim Cavanaugh, a retired Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent and now NBC News security analyst, said those red flags should have kept Houser from buying a gun in any state.

“If he's adjudicated as a danger to himself or others, or not able to handle his affairs due to his mental capacity, he is also barred from having a firearm,” Cavanaugh said.

Still, Houser was able to legally buy a Hi-Point .40-caliber handgun in Alabama in 2014. And that is the gun he used to fire more than a dozen shots into a Thursday night movie audience of about 25 people before killing himself, officials said.

It is unclear whether officials in Georgia filed records about Houser's involuntary hospitalization, which would have been funneled to the FBI's database and therefore surfaced during a background check in any state, according to The Associated Press. [MSNBC.com, 7/26/15]

Jindal Claimed That Louisiana's Diligent Record-Keeping Means The Shooter “Wouldn't Have Been Able To Buy A Gun.” Jindal claimed during a July 26 appearance on CBS' Face the Nation that because Louisiana “passed tougher laws a couple of years ago,” if Houser had been involuntarily committed there, his record would have “automatically” been sent to the national background check system and he would have been stopped when he tried to legally purchase a gun:

JOHN DICKERSON, HOST: What's your feeling about the fact that here you have someone with a history of mental illness that had been committed, but yet still despite those two things was able to purchase a gun?

JINDAL: John, that never should have happened. Here in Louisiana we actually passed tougher laws a couple of years ago so that, for example, if Houser had been involuntarily committed here in Louisiana, that information would have been automatically -- we would have reported that to the national background check system. He shouldn't -- he wouldn't have been able to buy a gun. He wouldn't have been able to go into that pawnshop and buy that gun as he did in another state. So look, every time this happens it seems like the person has a history of mental illness. We need to make sure the systems we have in place actually work. Like I said, in Louisiana we toughened our laws a couple years ago. If he'd been involuntarily committed here, if he'd tried to buy that gun here, he wouldn't have been allowed to do that.

DICKERSON: So is it an issue in your mind of making sure that cross state -- that other states are following the laws better? How does a person searching for a solution here, what do you they look to?

JINDAL: Well, absolutely. I think every state should strengthen their laws, every state should make sure this information is being reported in the background system. We need to make sure that background system's working. Absolutely in this instance, that man should have never been able to buy that gun. [CBS, Face the Nation, 7/26/15]

Despite New Record-Keeping Law, Louisiana Lags Far Behind Other States In Submitting Critical Background Check Information

New York Times Unquestioningly Repeats Jindal's Claim, Writing That He “Called For Tougher Gun Laws.” In a July 27 article, The Times wrote that Jindal “called for states to adopt laws similar to Louisiana's that feed information about mental illness into a federal background check system for potential gun buyers,” without even verifying the extent to which records are actually submitted by Louisiana:

Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana called for tougher gun laws in other states on Sunday, breaking his silence on the issue three days after a gunman with a history of mental illness and violence opened fire in a movie theater in the state's fourth-largest city.

[...]

Until Sunday, Mr. Jindal and most of his Republican rivals had deflected questions in recent days over whether the killings reflected a need for tighter gun control laws. On CBS's “Face the Nation,” Mr. Jindal called for states to adopt laws similar to Louisiana's that feed information about mental illness into a federal background check system for potential gun buyers.

“I think every state should strengthen their laws,” he said. “Every state should make sure this information is being reported in the background system. We need to make sure that background system is working. Absolutely, in this instance, this man never should have been able to buy a gun.”

Officials have said Mr. Houser, of Phenix City, Ala., legally bought the weapon there in 2014, although he had been denied a state-issued concealed weapons permit in 2006 because he was accused of domestic violence and soliciting arson. His family repeatedly described him as violent and mentally ill, and questions about his mental health had been raised for decades. In 2008, his family had him involuntarily committed to a hospital in Georgia to receive psychiatric care.

Mr. Jindal insisted that Louisiana laws would have prevented Mr. Houser from buying a gun.

“In Louisiana, we toughened our laws a couple of years ago,” Mr. Jindal said. “If he had been involuntarily committed here, if he had tried to buy that gun here, he wouldn't have been allowed to do that.”

He added: “Look, every time this happens, it seems like the person has a history of mental illness. We need to make sure the systems we have in place actually work.” [The New York Times, 7/27/15]

Some Progress Made Since Law Went Into Effect In 2014, But Louisiana Does Poorly Nationally And Has Likely Failed To Enter Tens Of Thousands Of Records. According to FBI data examined by Everytown for Gun Safety, Louisiana had submitted just 908 disqualifying mental health records into the background check system as of December 31, 2014. This number likely represents less than 3 percent of the total records that Louisiana should have submitted:

[Everytown for Gun Safety, accessed 7/27/15]

Georgia, Which Involuntarily Committed The Lafayette Gunman, Has Submitted Thousands More Records Than Louisiana. Jindal touted what he called Louisiana's “tougher laws” compared to other states, but Georgia has actually submitted more background check records than Louisiana has, despite also performing poorly nationally. Georgia has likely submitted around 11 percent of the total records that should be in the federal database.

[Everytown for Gun Safety, accessed 7/27/15]

The Times Reported That Jindal Strengthened Gun Laws, But Overall, Jindal Has Helped Make Louisiana's Laws The Weakest In The Nation

New York Times Headline: “Bobby Jindal Calls For States To Follow Louisiana's Example In Toughening Gun Laws.” [The New York Times, 7/27/15]

Law Center To Prevent Gun Violence: “Louisiana Has The Weakest Gun Laws In The Country And The Second-Highest Gun Death Rate.” In a 2014 scorecard, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence found that no state had looser gun laws than Louisiana, which also has the second-highest gun death rate in the nation:

[Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, accessed 7/7/15]

A Jindal-Backed State Constitutional Amendment Making Gun Ownership A “Fundamental Right” Gave Felons Legal Leverage To Challenge Ban On Possession. A legal challenge brought by two felons to a 2012 constitutional amendment -- backed by Jindal -- that requires gun laws to be evaluated under a “strict scrutiny” standard made it as far as the Louisiana Supreme Court, which ultimately rejected the challenge and upheld the constitutionality of a state law prohibiting felons from owning guns:

The Louisiana Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously upheld the constitutionality of the state's law barring convicted felons from possessing guns. The justices, who heard argument in May, issued the ruling in a pair of cases originating from district courts in Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes.

Both challenges to Revised Statute 14:95.1 are byproducts of a 2012 constitutional amendment that made gun ownership a fundamental right. The amendment, which Louisiana voters overwhelmingly approved, strengthened the state's gun rights and required that any limit to them must meet a “strict scrutiny” test, the highest level of judicial review.

“Some arrested or convicted of crimes involving firearms have attempted to show that the laws under which they were charged do not withstand strict scrutiny and are thus unconstitutional,” Associate Justice Jefferson Hughes III of Denham Springs wrote for the court in the 17-page opinion. “In these consolidated cases we now reject those arguments.”

“Our law proscribing the possession of firearms by convicted felons is not affected by the amendment and withstands a strict scrutiny analysis. Such laws are effective, time-tested and easily understandable and do not violate the Constitution. Common sense and the public safety allow no other result.”

The court overturned a 2013 decision by Judge Robert Pitre of the 24th Judicial District Court in the case of Jamal Taylor, 27, of Avondale and Kelin Stevens, 31, of Houma. Under state law, Taylor is barred from having guns because of his five felony narcotics convictions, while Stevens may not have guns because of his convictions of second-degree battery and possession with intent to distribute marijuana, prosecutors said. [The Times-Picayune, 7/1/14]

Jindal Has Loosened Louisiana's Gun Laws During His Tenure As Governor. In a July 24 article, The New Republic's Rebecca Leber described several pieces of legislation Jindal signed that weaken Louisiana's gun laws, including expanding the state's “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law and allowing people to acquire lifetime concealed carry permits:

The state doesn't require background checks on private sales, even for assault weapons; doesn't require gun owners to register their firearms; and doesn't have a limit on the number of firearms that can be purchased at one time, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. As for gun violence, the state has the second-highest gun death rate in the nation, according to an analysis of the latest National Vital Statistics report. Louisiana's lax oversight also enables firearms trafficking to other states, in which it ranks fifteenth in the nation, and 28 percent of guns wind up in criminals' hands within two years of sale--almost six points above the national average.

Jindal has worked to weaken the state's already lax gun control by signing a wave of bills in 2013 and 2014. He broadened the “Stand Your Ground” law to protect shooters who hurt, but don't kill, someone they feel is threatening. He allowed concealed weapons in places that serve alcohol. He banned public access to the personal information of concealed handgun permit owners. He approved guns in churches. And he allowed Louisianans to apply for lifetime concealed-carry permits. [The New Republic, 7/24/15]