Another mass shooting happened this month. Crazy guy with a gun. This one had warning signs, police contact, he self reported mental health issues, but no stopping him. I posted about Adam Lanza and my same thinking still applies. Here's a piece that was written about it
http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/17/opinion/granderson-gun-control-fail/index.html
This argument the writer presents agrees with mine when it comes to the response to mass shootings. I go past we need to look deeper. No one has the b@lls to address the real issues these shooters have. The reason gun owners are targeted is because its easy to blame the guns its harder to address troubled people capable of violence. There were warning signs but they weren't heeded. I will say this gun control expansion when it comes to mental health issues should be increased. This shooter not only had issues but also committed 2 gun crimes but still was allowed to purchase a gun. That needs to be addressed. None of the gun control laws passed here in MD would have stopped him from buying the gun, so I guess that invalidates my argument. What laws were passed that would have gotten him treatment or sentenced for the crimes he committed which would have prevented this shooting?
On a lighter note I cut my hand shucking oysters and had to visit patient first for a few stitches. I think the same DR. that sewed up my lip awhile back sewed up my hand yesterday. That was fun. My fear is the bill as I may have reached the out of pocket portion of my new health insurance. In an upcoming post I need to write about Obamacare (a name I hate but since I don't know the real name I'm going with it).
Showing posts with label Newtown shooting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Newtown shooting. Show all posts
Monday, September 30, 2013
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Ravens going to the AFC Championship and Guns
Wow the Ravens made to the AFC championship again. Well Tom will be there waiting for them. Please don't beat yourselves this year. I have to say the game last week was epic. I don't really know what to say about how the offense and defense stepped up. Once we got the ball at the end of regulation I don't know why but I knew we would win. everything went right. Will I say Joe is amazing? No, but he has a hell of a arm and has been good if not great the last two games. if we could beat Denver, who i would say was the best team in football, why not win it all? I don't know how I will feel Sunday but all I remember is how I felt last year after the kick missed. It hurt a lot.
On a more serious note. NY just passed a ban on assault weapons and made large clips illegal. I was surprised this wasn't just the Brady AW ban redone but actually went a bit further. This is the knee jerk reaction that I think isn't really going to prevent anything from happening. it is a feel good move that sates the public outcry for something to be done about the massacres. Unless the US pulls an Australia type ban on private weapons these gestures aren't going to help. The fact is the US isn't going to go that far and in fact these state by state bans don't go far enough to be effective. You think Texas is going to have a state law restricting firearms? Not a chance. The federal bans didn't curb violence. Brady didn't work. By the way who shot Brady? Oh it was a mentally ill person who I believe is still committed. Unless you ban private firearms ownership the people committing these crimes have to be stopped before they find a tool to carry out their plans. This goes back to my previous post regarding mental health facilities and changing the way the violently mentally ill are allowed to live free. Again I hope this isn't due to the cost. I think it is easier to say ban guns versus the uncomfortable difficult problem of protecting society from and treating properly those who are a threat to the public. Most would say lock them up in jail as many are today, but are you going to lock up a young man who comes from a family of means? No because his parents would never let them go to jail. Adam Lanza's mother didn't work so she could home school him due to his difficulties. Do you think she would have let him be put away in jail if say he made threats of violence and committed a minor crime? No she would have the best lawyers money could buy fight to keep him free. What if there was a place where he could be treated safely that wasn't jail? That brings up images of a sunny bright hospital with smiling patients in robes doing art therapy. Thats probably nothing like the truth of what a sanitarium would look like, so maybe that isn't a reasonable outcome either. All I know is these killers had access to weapons and were in a mental state to use them on innocents and no law passed or even being purposed addresses either side of that situation.
On a more serious note. NY just passed a ban on assault weapons and made large clips illegal. I was surprised this wasn't just the Brady AW ban redone but actually went a bit further. This is the knee jerk reaction that I think isn't really going to prevent anything from happening. it is a feel good move that sates the public outcry for something to be done about the massacres. Unless the US pulls an Australia type ban on private weapons these gestures aren't going to help. The fact is the US isn't going to go that far and in fact these state by state bans don't go far enough to be effective. You think Texas is going to have a state law restricting firearms? Not a chance. The federal bans didn't curb violence. Brady didn't work. By the way who shot Brady? Oh it was a mentally ill person who I believe is still committed. Unless you ban private firearms ownership the people committing these crimes have to be stopped before they find a tool to carry out their plans. This goes back to my previous post regarding mental health facilities and changing the way the violently mentally ill are allowed to live free. Again I hope this isn't due to the cost. I think it is easier to say ban guns versus the uncomfortable difficult problem of protecting society from and treating properly those who are a threat to the public. Most would say lock them up in jail as many are today, but are you going to lock up a young man who comes from a family of means? No because his parents would never let them go to jail. Adam Lanza's mother didn't work so she could home school him due to his difficulties. Do you think she would have let him be put away in jail if say he made threats of violence and committed a minor crime? No she would have the best lawyers money could buy fight to keep him free. What if there was a place where he could be treated safely that wasn't jail? That brings up images of a sunny bright hospital with smiling patients in robes doing art therapy. Thats probably nothing like the truth of what a sanitarium would look like, so maybe that isn't a reasonable outcome either. All I know is these killers had access to weapons and were in a mental state to use them on innocents and no law passed or even being purposed addresses either side of that situation.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
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.
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.
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.
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