By PAUL J. CONDRA
The senator chose to hold a press conference on the steps of Our Lady of Peace R.C. Church, where two people were shot and killed last month by a man who, despite his ineligibility under federal laws, obtained a gun because federal databases are incomplete. Schumer was joined and supported by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola), Lynbrook Mayor Eugene Scarpato and Our Lady of Peace administrator Father Bill Singleton.
The senator's new bill consists of two parts. The first prohibits anyone subject to a restraining order from buying a gun. The second requires states to send the federal government lists of people who are considered violently mentally ill to ensure that existing federal laws against such people buying guns can be better enforced.
We're trying to prevent brutal senseless murder like the one in this church from ever happening again, Schumer said.
According to Nassau County investigators, the man accused in the shootings at Our Lady of Peace, Peter Troy, bought a .22 caliber rifle from a Mineola gun shop only days before the murders were committed. Though Troy has a history of mental illness and is therefore barred by federal law from buying guns, a mandatory background check cleared him to purchase the gun.
Peter Troy is the last person on Earth who should be able to buy a gun, Schumer said. This never never should have happened.
The reason it did, Schumer said, is because the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) had no records on Troy, even though he had been admitted to two mental facilities and his mother had filed a restraining order against him in 1998.
Schumer said the bill he will introduce in June will require that states give mental health information not just criminal information to the FBI to be put into the NICS database. To achieve that end, the bill sets aside $250 million to assist states in the information-gathering task.
We believe if we give them the dollars, then they'll do it, Schumer said. The senator also stressed that he and McCarthy are not trying to take away the right of Americans to buy guns.
We're not changing the law, he said. We're just making sure it works.
The bill would not affect people who are legally able to buy and own weapons; its authors just hope it will strengthen the gun control laws that already exist.
Common sense says somebody that is mentally ill shouldn't be able to buy a gun, McCarthy said. The congresswoman said she expects the bill to be a hard push in the House and the Senate, as most laws concerning gun control are, but it's one she's willing to fight for.
We have to do something, we have to take a hard look at how many people are dying, she said.
Church and village leaders said they support any legislation that would bring more safety to the area.
I cannot understand why they had these loopholes in the first place, said Mayor Scarpato. I can't see why this wouldn't be passed whether you're a Democrat or a Republican.
Father Singleton read a prepared statement from Bishop William Murphy, of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, in which the bishop stated, I whole-heartedly support this effort to improve gun control.
According to a press release issued by Schumer's staff, only 17 states provide the FBI with mental health records, and they do it very inconsistently. There are only 41 of such records with the FBI, and New York State has only reported one case.
Skeptics said the bill could raise questions of confidentiality among civil rights groups. But Schumer said the NICS database would not reveal why a person was on the list, only that he or she cannot buy a weapon.
When questioned after the press conference, Schumer said he thinks Troy should not have been released from the hospital when he was. He also said he thinks somebody who really wants to commit a murder will find a way to do it despite gun control laws.
Troy is accused of shooting Father Larry Penzes and parishioner Eileen Tosner on March 12 during a morning Mass. Investigators still have not found any prior relationship between Troy and the church. They believe he targeted Penzes, but not Tosner, who was an unintended victim.
