I think anyone who is "inspired" by movies and video games is
unstable to begin with.
Haven't you ever seen anyone on the street that you had a gut feeling that you should get away from them?
I'll bet the gun dealers will tell you they can tell who may have a problem with agression.
But the dealer can't not sell to someone without a reason (I don't think)
I'll bet womeone could come up with a written test that would give a good indication
of warning signs to limit the people "on the fringe".
You may not like that option but you come up with something better.
I worked at a state hospital
We had a guy that the cops brought in for observation who was caught sitting with the guard dogs at a construction site
He told me, the only reason the dogs didn't bite him was they knew he was crazier that they were.
He wasn't a bad guy.
Another man had confessed to killing an 8 year old girl they had found in a park.
He didn't do it.
He had a heart attack and lost his job and was depressed.
He wasn't a bad guy.
We had a guy who jumped up at breakfast and attacked the attendants with a knife and fork.
He could have been a bad guy.
I used to see two guys from time to time, passing thru my neighborhood, who had quit school at 16 years old.
They had tatoos that were made with a Bic pen.
You never quite knew what they were going to do and what was going to piss them off.
They were bad. They were scarey.
I think a lot of these people can be identified but if they haven't committed a crime what do you do?