The state Senate moved Thursday to keep guns from those deemed so mentally ill that they pose an immediate threat to themselves and others.

Senators would allow gun purchases by people who have been involuntarily committed to outpatient treatment but are not considered an immediate threat.

That was the result of a fiery debate on the Senate floor over legislation intended to prevent the kind of mass shooting that killed 32 students and faculty at Virginia Tech last year.

The Senate voted 30-19 to remove a requirement that anyone involuntarily committed to outpatient treatment would be listed on a national database that sheriffs use to deny gun permits. The bill now says that those committed to outpatient treatment "shall only be reported if the individual is found to be a danger to self or others."

"If someone is involuntarily committed to outpatient treatment, it specifically means they are not found to be a danger to others," said Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger, who pushed the change.

Berger contended that judges and medical professionals would be more aware of the need to determine whether someone is a danger.

F. Paul Valone, president of Grass Roots North Carolina, a gun rights group, made the same argument in a recent Senate committee meeting.

Sen. Martin Nesbitt and Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand argued against the change. They cited North Carolina law on involuntary commitments. It says that one of the conditions for involuntarily committing someone to outpatient treatment is that the person is "in need of treatment in order to prevent further disability or deterioration that would predictably result in dangerousness."

"I'm a gun owner and a gun collector, and I used to hunt and done it all, folks," said Nesbitt, an Asheville Democrat. "But, folks, we can't let people who are in these kind of troubled waters to go buy a gun."

Twelve Senate Democrats, including U.S. Senate candidate Kay Hagan of Greensboro, joined all 18 Republicans in attendance to support Berger's amendment. The bill now goes to the House.

In the wake of tragedy

State Attorney General Roy Cooper sought the legislation to close a loophole in state law exposed by the Virginia Tech tragedy. The gunman, student Seung-Hui Cho, had been involuntarily committed to outpatient treatment by a court order. But he was not listed on the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, so he could purchase handguns.

Cooper said in a statement that he was pleased with the legislature's action.

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