Hokanson’s name should have been fed into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System when he was in California. If it had been and the system worked, he should have been flagged in Arizona.

“I *still* don’t know if I’m in that f*cking database like I’m supposed to be,” he posted on Facebook. “I’ve been court ordered for treatment plenty of times.” The way for him to find out would be to try and buy another gun, which he has not attempted to do.

He’s stable now, takes his meds, and is living in a somewhat better neighborhood. But if he should decide he wants a gun, Hokanson doesn’t have to tempt the federal database—he can just go around it.