Obvious Knee Jerk Reaction Within Our State

I totally disagree with this....


Tucson shooting prompts SC reporting legislation
By JIM DAVENPORT
Associated Press

Colleges and universities should be required to turn over records on disruptive and threatening students who drop out as a way to avoid tragedies like the recent shooting in Arizona that left six people dead, a South Carolina lawmaker said Friday.

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others were shot last Saturday at an event she hosted for constituents in Tucson. A 9-year-old girl was among those killed. Giffords was shot in the head and gravely wounded.

Jared Loughner, 22, a former Pima Community College student, has been charged in the shootings. Loughner had a history of strange outbursts, including one about strapping bombs to babies, and in September was suspended after he claimed in a YouTube video that the school was illegal under the Constitution. He voluntarily withdrew the next month - at that time, police had a 51-page report on him.

Republican Rep. Chip Limehouse of Charleston said he doesn't want similar reports of odd behavior to go unnoticed.

"My legislation would require South Carolina colleges and universities to turn over their records concerning behavioral problems where warning bells are going off," Limehouse said. The records would have to be turned over to local police agencies.

He said his bill will be introduced Tuesday when legislators return to work.

Limehouse said the legislation does not infringe on rights.

"This is a lot more benign than being on a do-not-fly list. This is not impugning someone's rights in any shape or form," Limehouse said. And states already have other protections to prevent crimes in their laws, such as sex offender registries, he notes.

"But when it comes to dealing with nut jobs, we don't have any tools to pre-empt their behavior," Limehouse said. "All this is is a connect-the-dots scenario for law enforcement."

South Carolina's American Civil Liberties Union director, Victoria Middleton, was waiting the see the legislation.

"While we haven't seen the draft legislation, we hope that any new regulations would protect both our safety and our privacy," Middleton said.

A spokeswoman for the National Conference of State Legislatures was not immediately aware of similar legislation being introduced in other states this week.

State legislators around the nation used the 2007 shootings of 32 people at Virginia Tech to argue for looser handgun restrictions. In many cases, they argued it should be easier for people to protect themselves when such shootings happen.

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