Suspected killer Erika Menendez being arrested.
It doesn't have to happen.
Every year about 1,000 people in the U.S. are murdered by severely mentally ill people.The pro-gun response is that we need to address the mental health issues INSTEAD of doing something about the gun availability.
Over 38,000 people in the United States die by suicide every year -- 90% of whom have a diagnosable mental illness.
Treatable mental illness destroys the lives of tens of millions of families each year. The economic toll is enormous -- and mostly hidden. Untreated mental illnesses in the U.S. costs more than $100 billion a year in lost productivity according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Control of handguns and assault rifles is a needed start. It is the low hanging fruit.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
The phrase "guns don't kill people, people kill people" gets tossed around far too often for my liking because I'm not sure people really consider the meaning. But the sound byte conveys a very simple idea; a person must ultimately have motivation to use any means of killing. If we are to reduce all violence, targeting the true motivators of violence are the safer bet than assuming we can go after a means instead of a motivator. Alternatives will ALWAYS be present unless the root cause isn't there. Though the mass stabbing that occurred in China the same day as Sandy Hook got a lot of attention, there has been a wave of mass stabbings in China over recent years; and not all of them are so non-fatal. A good portion of them produce more deaths than some of the "mass shootings" the Brady Campaign claims we have each year. Chinese society may have gun control, but the refusal of the Communist Party to touch real social issues has dire consequences for everyone. It seems pointless to ban something that is used more often for self-defense than mass murder in the mistaken believe it will dissuade a motivated individuals.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, I would agree that the NRA is playing lip service to this country's problems with mental illness. I'm not sure how many people have actually risen up in favor of actual reforms to American's problems with mental illness. Having had some personal stake in the issue, such as friends whose disposition to violence has been influenced by a mixture of mental illness, public shame and taboo, and violent media (not arguing video games make those without mental illness go crazy; but violent media certainly has some impact to the mentally ill), I'm pretty sure this is one of the major steps to be taken in actual violence prevention and will require more than just NRA lip service every time a tragedy happens.
Jack, should we do something about the gun availability too?
DeleteJack DeVackJanuary 2, 2013 10:54 AM
DeleteI'm not sure how many people have actually risen up in favor of actual reforms to American's problems with mental illness.
Actually you liberals/socialist/marxist/statist/fucknuts did do some reforming in the US in regards to mental illness, you dismantled the system of mental health institutions/asylums starting in the 1960's, which unsurprisingly corresponds almost exactly with the rise in mass shootings.......
So now we got a gaggle of the mentaly unfit pushing people infront of trains, and setting children on fire.....
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/01/03/man-suspected-of-setting-family-on-fire-made-earlier-threats/
Way to go jackholes!!!!
I thought Reagan always gets credit for that one.
DeleteThe article is full of non-sequiturs, but you only made things worse. Those figures you quoted don't give the method used. In the case of suicides, we already know the answer. Gun suicides are about half the total. What is more, the woman shown being arrested in the picture shoved a man in front of a train. She didn't use a gun. This is an example of telling small truths to make a big lie.
ReplyDeleteOn the question of gun availability, you've yet to explain how guns are ever more available, gun laws get better and better, and yet, rates of accident and violent crime go down. That's contrary to the prediction of your hypothesis. When the evidence contradicts the hypothesis, you must either revise the hypothesis or reject it. You don't get to ignore the evidence.
Mikeb says 1,000 people are killed by mentally ill people. But are they mentally ill? Or are they on mind-altering psychiatric drugs that cause them to do these things?
ReplyDeleteEven PBS is questioning the wisdom of giving these drugs.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/medicating/watch/
And what is mentally ill? Maybe their soul is ill? How do you tell the difference?
orlin sellers
You're right that's exactly why we need to diminish the gun availability.
DeleteMikeb, nothing like getting it bass ackwards. Perhaps we should hold the quacks who prescribe these drugs responsible.
Deleteorlin sellers
I have read so many posts and finally someone nails it. Mental health imo need to be looked at. That and more pressure on fathers to spend time with kids (but thats another topic). www.offmyguns.com
ReplyDeleteYou mean, I suppose, that we should focus on those things INSTEAD of gun availability?
Delete"My wife and I are very fortunate: we have two automobiles that have the kindest, and most congenial and responsible dispositions. In the years that we have owned them, they have neither gotten us drunk and crashed us into a busload of schoolchildren, nor have they driven us along a freeway at 120 mph, weaving in and out of traffic. I might add that none of our previous cars engaged in any such acts, leaving me thankful that they have chosen not to endanger our safety, or that of our children and grandchildren. Perhaps my wife and I know how to select "nice" vehicles; cars with a pleasant state of mind; unlike those that manage to extend their powers of causation to other drivers. *Butler Shaffer
Deleteorlin sellers
As I write this article, I am informed that a van carrying Chinese kindergarten children plunged into a pond, killing eleven youngsters. Are we to conclude that Chinese vehicles are more inclined to destroy human life than are those in the West? We do know that there are various substances – such as alcohol, drugs, and tobacco – whose use forces men and women into an irresistible submission to their powers. We are also being told – by those who most of us accept as being more knowledgeable than ourselves (e.g., politicians, academicians, people in the mainstream media) – that guns also have this capacity to exercise their wills over us; to make us do their bidding."