BEAUFORT CO., SC (WTOC) -
The folks at Palmetto Indoor Gun Range say all the talk about guns the past few months has sent their sales through the roof.
And the fact that South Carolina is one of six states that do not have any laws restricting people with mental illness from legally buying a gun means they could have sold one to a person who was declared mentally unstable by a court.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson says something has to be done.
"We recognize that there's one consistent theme outside of the gun violence itself and that is that the individual in question were mentally ill," Wilson said. "What we're trying to do is address the cause not the symptom, and South Carolina needs to address the issue whether or not people who've been adjudicated mentally ill should be able to purchase a fire arm."
Just last week, a Beaufort county woman pulled a gun on a school official in front of Ashley Hall Girls School in Charleston.
Police say Alice Boland legally purchased her gun from a gun store in Walterboro.
In 2005, Boland pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity after threatening to kill former President George Bush.
"I don't understand why there isn't an extensive background check for people who buy guns, especially people with mental illnesses. And in this case, the woman had threatened to kill a president before. It could have been stopped," said Vivi Verity, of Beaufort.
Michael Costa used to work at a gun shop, and he says there's a possibility that he once sold a gun to someone with a mental illness.
"There's nothing on the form that allows them to check that box," he said. "Obviously there's nothing under federal firearm licensing that allows them to even do a background check as part of that."
According to Wilson, the bill he's proposing pertains to people declared mentally ill by a court. Those people would go into the national instant background check system. Currently, 38 states use that system.
Wilson will be officially introducing the bill, which is supported by both parties, on Tuesday during a news conference.
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South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson
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