Newtown conn. shooting

The reaction to the elementary school shooting has been typical.  Over blown media reaction and knee jerk reactions per the usual.  I do feel like this one was different and needs to lead to some action to stop these horrible incedents.  I was struggling to put together my feelings on this issue.  My natural reaction is to condem the calls for stricter guns laws and bans, but I almost feel like we should try something else.  I am a proponent of responsible gun ownership and hate calls for more regulations. I think the mental health aspect needs exploring.  These killers (recent) had contact with mental health professionals at some level.  Should the doctors stepped in and had them committed, could they even do that?  That got me thinking about in patient treatment availibility. I don't know for sure what are the options, but I have the distinct feeling that asylums aren't really an option for some reason.  Then in research of this issue I came across this article which touches on the issue and more to the point a real look at what could be done with violent or potentially violent people.  It's worth reading.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/16/i-am-adam-lanzas-mother-mental-illness-conversation_n_2311009.html

From the article:

With state-run treatment centers and hospitals shuttered, prison is now the last resort for the mentally ill—Rikers Island, the LA County Jail and Cook County Jail in Illinois housed the nation's largest treatment centers in 2011.

No one wants to send a 13-year-old genius who loves Harry Potter and his snuggle animal collection to jail. But our society, with its stigma on mental illness and its broken healthcare system, does not provide us with other options. Then another tortured soul shoots up a fast food restaurant. A mall. A kindergarten classroom. And we wring our hands and say, "Something must be done."...Me: From that I say we need to get put public safety over stigmas and health care cost analysis. Open up the asylums which are dedicated to treating these people not as a side opportunity for the jails to deal with. That's not the place to put them and with jails you have the precondition of a crime to get them in. A diagnosis and a threat should be more than enough to get a commitment.