FILE - In this Oct. 21, 2013 file photo, Attorney General Eric Holder listens to a speech after of his remarks during the Annual International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. (AP Photo)
Fox News
The FBI says it has helped to disrupt or prevent nearly 150 shootings and violent attacks this year, in part by steering potential gunmen toward mental health professionals. It's an achievement that stands out during a year when President Barack Obama made curbing gun violence a priority, yet has had little success in getting new restrictions enacted.
There have been hundreds of these disruptions since 2011, Attorney General Eric Holder recently told an audience of police chiefs, touting the behind-the-scenes work of a small FBI unit based out of Quantico, Va. In most cases, the FBI has helped potential offenders get access to mental health care.
Preventing mass shootings through threat assessments and treatment is an unusual tactic for an agency known for its crime fighting and not for interventions. One year after the deadly mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, the White House's biggest efforts to curb gun violence — attempts to reinstate the assault weapons ban and expand background checks for all gun purchases — failed without congressional support.
Wow, that's even more than the number of terrorists attacks that they say they stopped.
ReplyDeleteIs it any wonder given the incredible gun availability in the country. You guys should be proud of yourselves.
DeleteI'm pleased by our gun availability. It means that your proposals are doomed to failure.
DeleteIt means more death.
DeleteLeave it to the criminal coward to root for death.
TS makes jokes and Greg expresses pleasure. That's why I blame you guys for the unnecessary deaths and injuries.
DeleteTS is making a valid point, one that I also made below, about the claims by the government regarding preventing terrorist attacks. Naturally, we're asked to take all of these claims on faith.
DeleteMy pleasure here is in the fact that with so many guns already in this country, the laws that you desire would fail. We've won that battle. Your proposals were never about eliminating unnecessary deaths, anyway, so how about getting on to real solutions?
'Your proposals were never about eliminating unnecessary deaths"
DeleteOf course that's another lie from the site criminal liar.
Well, I have to wonder if this is any more reliable than the claims made by the other agencies in the government that they've prevented X number of attacks, but let's accept what he says, for sake of argument. Notice how on the face of it, this doesn't involve violating the rights of good citizens?
ReplyDeleteI'm heartened that someone in this administration is doing something besides lobby to restrict gun rights. Here we have a resource that local law enforcement can go to help determine whether intervention is needed. And it actually addresses what may be the root cause.
ReplyDeleteJames Holmes was referred to a local version of this evaluation, though no one is saying what happened to the referral. As with anything involving people, nothing is 100%.
Another interesting item in the article is this,
"The Behavioral Threat Assessment Center operates with the knowledge that mass shootings like Newtown are uncommon, and that's important, said Ronald Schouten, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and expert on threat assessments.
"These occur very rarely, and there's no profile," Schouten said of those who carry out the shootings."