THIS IS AMERICA -- OF COURSE THIS GUY STILL HAS A CONCEALED CARRY PERMIT

Roll Call reports:

The Virginia man who was arrested for threatening to kill Rep. Scott Taylor and two of his staffers is being held in custody during his court procedures because he is a danger to the community, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Wallace Godwin, 69, receives treatment for dementia and another degenerative brain disease diagnosed in June, his defense attorney said Tuesday, according to The Virginian-Pilot. He has declined treatment for mental health disorders.

Godwin has a concealed-carry permit in Virginia, according to court documents.

All weapons have been removed from his home, the defense insisted, but Magistrate Judge Robert Krask said the ease of obtaining another firearm and Godwin’s concealed-carry license made it likely he could get his hands on another weapon.

Krask ordered that Godwin remain in custody.

The threat wasn't subtle:

Godwin visited Taylor’s Virginia Beach office Thursday to discuss marijuana policy and after apparently becoming frustrated by the discussion with the congressman’s staff, according to the charging documents, said, “Scott is having an event this Saturday. I am going to get my shotgun and do something about this. I will just handle this myself.”

After making the threat against Taylor, the charging documents said Godwin pointed at two staffers in the room and said, “You two are next.”

Prior to that, there was this:

About a year before, Godwin found the congressman at his home, parked his vehicle so that it blocked Taylor’s vehicle and waited for Taylor to come outside....

According to prosecutors, Godwin also threatened to kill Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms one month before .

Under federal law, a person isn't allowed to possess a gun or ammunition if he or she has been judged to be a "mental defective" or has been involuntarily committed to a mental institution. But if you've checked into a mental health facility voluntarily, or been ordered to undergo outpatient treatment? That's state by state, as is losing the right to carry if you've made threats. In Virginia, threats won't automatically cost you the right to carry.

When I watched the CNN town hall on guns, I noticed that the NRA's Dana Loesch was trying very hard to convince us all that her organization is deeply upset whenever a person who's not mentally fit to own a gun has possession of one. Referring to the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, Loesch said:

The worst school shooting with -- with the murder in Virginia, this individual was court ordered to undergo mental health evaluations and he slipped through the cracks.

He would have never been able to purchase if this had been known. This is what I'm talking about, in terms of prevention and making sure that people who are dangerous should not have access to firearms without punishing law abiding Americans who want to be able to have that same right to defend themselves.

If the NRA really feels this way, then it should be clamoring for laws prohibiting individuals like Godwin from carrying guns. Funny, I see no evidence that the NRA wants Virginia laws tightened further.

Godwin shouldn't have a concealed carry permit. The Dana Loesch who pretended to be a decent, concerned citizen on CNN ought to be howling about the fact that he still has one. But that wasn't the real Loesch. She and her NRA colleagues don't care.