THE gunman who killed two people and wounded nine more in a Louisiana cinema last Thursday was able to buy a gun despite a history of mental illness, police acknowledged at the weekend.

A judge in Georgia had ordered John Russell Houser to undergo treatment in 2008 after concluding he was “a danger to himself and others,” while Sheriff Heath Taylor of Russell County, Alabama, said his office had denied him a permit to carry concealed weapons because of allegations of arson and domestic violence.

However, Mr Houser does not appear to have had a criminal conviction, which is why he passed a background check to buy a .40-calibre handgun on February 26 2014.

It was the weapon he opened fire with last week during a screening of Trainwreck.

Mr Houser’s wife filed for divorce this March and subsequently reported that he had threatened her.

“It sure does seem like something failed,” Georgian probate Judge Susan Tate said.