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If military candidates admit illegal drug use, that information should be shared with the FBI so they can't buy a gun, Sen. Chuck Schumer said on Sunday.

This step could have blocked Jared Lee Loughner, the sole suspect in the Jan. 8 Arizona massacre, from buying a gun and ammo, Schumer said.

The Army rejected Loughner in 2008 because he flunked a drug test, a Washington military official said.

In letters to Attorney General Eric Holder and Kenneth Melson, acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Schumer said the feds could act on their own without legislation to require the military to enter the drug abuse of potential recruits into the FBI's data base on gun purchases.

here's what i don't like about this. it basically subjects a small group of people (who are no longer [or never were officially] in the military) to restrictions that the rest of the population isn't subjected to. i mean it's not like these guys have been convicted of any crimes, and likely, loughner probably did drugs BECAUSE he was a lunatic. i don't like foregoing the law.

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How about people who drink alcohol. I'd venture that contributes to more gun deaths than drugs or insanity.

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Unfortunately, I believe that someone will get a gun and ammo regardless of their past drug use.  Personally, I'd rather see them have to have a "mental" evaluation.....and if it shows up positive for mental illness...get the help that they need for it.  Either way....I just think there are too many guns in our society (legal or not) and people who feel that their right to use them, if they feel they need them, that are in our society.  I still remember living next door to a neighbor who was in his early 80's...he had NO problem letting me know that he had a loaded gun in his house and would use it.  He had already talked to the cops in the neighborhood who told him...if you shoot someone protecting your property...make sure that you pull them INTO your house....that way you won't be charged with murder!

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there's only one additional gun control that i would support. and that is having all people who a buy a gun undergo the same classes someone has to take to get a hunting license. basically, a firearms safety course. i had to undergo such a course, and it's longer than a single day. this serves the purpose of informing the public of firearms safety, and would likely weed out a lot of the novices who just want a gun to be cool.

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The drug proposal by Schumer is silly and not well thought out.  Its just one more attempt to apply State control on average citizens.  I agree with the mandatory training that Dod suggests.

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I think that if someone shows aggressive behavior like this, and it is clear they are suffering from some type of major mental illness society does involuntary commitment. Loughner had the police called on him multiple times, and it was clear he was suffering from schizophrenia. Mind you my idea will upset the fiscal conservative and the social libertarian.

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The Loughner thing is complex.  What do you do with a guy like that?

He was kicked out of college because everyone there was scared of him.
He'd had some run-ins with the law...but no convictions that I know of.
There was clearly something wrong with him though.  I think his parents were even scared of him.  So what could have been done about him?  And what SHOULD have been done about him?

If he isn't convicted of any crime, can the courts order him into psychiatric counseling?  SHOULD they be able to do that?

Is banning guns the answer?  Like someone above mentioned, he'd likely have been able to get his hands on a gun even if they were illegal.  And imo, if he couldnt, if he truly wanted to kill someone, he could easily ...EASILY create a pipe bomb.

This is a guy that desperately needed both rehab and counseling.  Actually he probably needed to be committed to a psych ward.  But with no convictions, how do you do that?