Keep guns from the insane: Obama

Cho Seung-Hui, the gunman who shot 32 people at Virginia Tech, had a history of mental health problems but still was able to buy two guns that he used in the rampage.

''If we know that he got mental health services, then there should be some way of preventing somebody like that from buying any kind of weapon,'' Obama said.

Federal law prohibits the mentally ill from purchasing guns, but most states have privacy laws barring such information from being shared with law enforcement. Some advocates for the mentally ill and gun-rights groups have opposed legislation that would include the information in record-keeping.

AP