Keep guns away from mentally ill
Why are we attempting to restrict the use of firearms in the hands of mentally competent citizens when it's easier to identify and remove firearms from the mentally ill? Case in point, on the same day Adam Lanza ruthlessly attacked Sandy Hook Elementary, a similar horrific event occurred thousands of miles away in China, when a knife wielding maniac attacked 22 children at a primary school. Similar situations because in both cases, the persons were determined to have serious mental problems.
Why do Americans react to tragic or emotionally driven situations without having an honest discussion about root cause? Is it the sensationalism of the American press, particularly the sound bite television news and entertainment programs? How many Americans honestly form opinions based on what they hear, or by what they watch on trash television like Entertainment Tonight or Sean Hannity? Real solutions are not arrived at through knee jerk reactions, or because it feels right and will somehow avenge the tragedy.
Beginning with O'Connor v. Donaldson (1975), when the Supreme Court opened the door to the definition of non-violent mentally Ill, further rulings have essentially handcuffed states and families dealing with mentally incompetent individuals who easily fool mental health professionals and are allowed to continue walking our streets and to forgo medication needed to stabilize their condition. This ruling and others has resulted in the mentally ill living on the streets, refusing medications, or fighting confinement, just as Adam Lanza did before his final deadly act in Sandy Hook.
For all the disbelief and dismay, we actually know pretty well that most such events are committed by individuals with a particular set of characteristics. In a 2011 article in the Journal of Police Crisis Negotiations, school shooters have generally been found to have three general characteristics:
* A history of antisocial-personality traits
* Suffer from mental illnesses such as depression or psychosis
* Obsess about how others, individuals or society in general have wronged them
If one article doesn't make a good case, consider the U.S Secret Service in a 2002 report on school shootings indicated that these individuals, "seething with rage and hatred and despondency, until they decide to lash out at individuals or a society they believe has done them great wrong. Mental health, as well as our failure to address it as a society, is at the core of 99.99 percent or these events."
New York is likely to pass the most stringent gun regulations in America this week. Why is this important? Because in this landmark gun legislation, is an attempt to restrict individual rights on firearms and magazines already owned by law abiding citizens, reactionary and unconstitutional? I believe it may be and that the legislation is motivated out of ill-conceived belief that if you remove the option, bad guys will somehow not have access, how ridiculous is this concept?
A quick look at the effectiveness of America's war on drugs should provide the answer. Forty years and over $1 trillion,are there any fewer drugs on the street? How many perfectly normal Americans are locked up in the ever expanding prison system and how many Mexicans have died because of America's drugs war? The cost and constitutionality of the war on drugs is equally questionable as any ban on firearms or firearms components.
New York should be applauded for its attempt to clamp down on access to firearms by the mentally incompetent. This is one part of the New York legislation making perfect sense. Therapists will be required to report threats of gun use to mental health directors. It may help to stop some violence. Increased screening of firearms buyers and the state being able to confiscate firearms from unstable individuals are useful tactics, but again could be unconstitutional.
The use of any dangerous implement by deranged individuals or any criminal attack needs to be met with the harshest punishment, not coddling these people for their lack of common sense or diminished mental capacity. As "Jumpin" Joe Biden brings forth the latest reactionary piece of legislation from DC and the Capitol Freak Show, just remember, in China the crazed individual who attacked those 22 school children last month with a knife will meet his maker in front of a firing squad sooner rather than later, because unlike in America, China has zero tolerance for any person, competent or not, who commits a heinous crime.
Reid Harlocker is a Hayden resident.