We should be asking how a severely depressed young man could walk into a Roanoke, Va., gun store and buy a Glock 9-mm handgun.

And in Santa Clara County, Calif., we should be asking why our county supervisors are considering cutting $34 million from the mental-health budget next year and closing four community clinics.

Fresno County is preparing to cut services for inmates, the homeless and others suffering from severe mental illnesses just as it is about to spend $8.6 million in state money on new programs for the mentally ill.

Some counties have it worse than others. Santa Clara, for example, is proposing nearly $40 million in cuts. State mental health officials say that Los Angeles, Merced, Modoc, Imperial and Shasta counties also may reduce services next year.

In Fresno County, officials expect they will need to cut about $10 million in mental health programs in the 2007-08 budget. Most of the reductions will be in services that assist adults suffering from illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe anxiety.

Facing a deficit of $2.7 billion, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has targeted the program’s $55 million budget for elimination. But supporters say they will fight the reduction because the program has proved effective in keeping clients out of hospitals and jails, while also keeping many gainfully employed.

“We’ve seen a tremendous improvement in people — in their ability to work and to live on their own,” said Dr. Bob Cabaj, director of San Francisco’s community behavioral health services. “This would be a great loss if this money was to be taken out.”

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