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WOW, I was reading the article 25 Deadliest Mass Shootings in U.S. last night and did a research on all these shooters. I found out almost all of them suffered from untreated mental illnesses.
I wonder why do some people always blame the guns after a mass shooting? Mental illness is often not to blame in mass shooting? Why?
Maybe because without easy access to guns, the mass murders wouldn't kill so many people in such a short time?
Besides, isn't the NRA's mantra that every nut should be able to own his/her own arsenal until/unless he/she kills a few dozen people and therefore "proves" his/her unfitness to "protect himself/herself" from the police and the military?
I'm not seeking an argument here. I agree that mental illness is behind most mass shootings. That said, we have a much higher level of gun violence and mortality in the U.S. compared with most countries that have strict gun laws. I know, I know, the Constitution protects your right to own guns. My question is, why do people feel the need to own semi automatic assault weapons? What is it about owning and firing these guns that people feel so strongly about? I understand hunters wanting to hunt, and even sportsman who enjoy shooting at a firing range if that's your thing. But the need to own guns in which the weapon's use to to fire as many rounds in as fast a time as possible is something I cannot understand. There will always be mentally unstable people who present as normal enough to not be committed or incarcerated - just like this kid in California. The cops had just interviewed him and found no cause to arrest him or search his place. There will always be people out there like this. The difference is, in the U.S., virtually anybody can legally obtain a semi automatic assault weapon and blow many people away in short order. WHY IS THIS OKAY WITH PEOPLE? I just don't get it - kids being blown away at schools should NEVER happen. But in the U.S., these tragedies get a few days news time and are forgotten, because it's that common. As long as we have a surplus of these weapons available to anybody, we will continue to see more senseless killing. And yes, the guns don't kill people, people do. Crazy people who can get any number of assault weapons because this is America.
Because the 2nd amendment isn't about hunting.
I want the best chance to protect myself and my family and that is with a semi automatic weapon.
The difference between a semi automatic hand gun or rifle and a revolver or a lever action rifle is not very big, especially when fewer than 10 rounds are fired by criminals during an attack most times and rifles are hardly used in murders in general.
You are caught up in a few horrible acts but are missing the fact that violent crime (including murder) is at 30-40 year lows.
If that were so, then how did Mr Rodger obtain his firearms? You're premise is that he was mentally ill. And that the problem in the United States is with mental illness. But if Mr Rodger was mentally ill, then why didn't the authorities know that? They had spoken to him. And while I've heard people say that the police aren't equipped to make such evaluations, I'm going to go out on a limb here, and assert that even the most intuitive psychological professional cannot evaluate a threat level based on a twenty-minute conversation. People who are mentally ill but who function in society are adept at masking their illness, at pretending to be normal especially in the short term.
And in just about every one of these mass shootings, the people had obtained their weapons legally.
If we're going to blame mental illness, then we have to define mental illness. Is someone who has Asperger's mentally ill? Are introverts mentally ill? To what degree does a person have to be different from the accepted norm to be diagnosed as mentally ill?
The issue is, being different isn't a mental illness.
And we can't just go around locking people up because they are loners or anti-social or introverts. And if we can't go around locking people up, if we can't stop them from buying or possessing firearms, then is it reasonable for law enforcement to be given access to a database of those who've bought weapons and munitions, and perhaps to cross-reference that database with a database where the police have been called to do an evaluation, or family or doctors have tried or even succeeded in committing someone.
Exactly.
Some of the craziest people are sociopaths, but they know how to mask it well. They're charming, gregarious, usually very bright and you could never tell from a 20 minute conversation.
Furthermore, how do you define mental illness?
Moderately depressed vs mildly depressed? Neurotic, like the constant hand-washing of OCD people?
Someone with a lot of cats?
Where do you draw the line?
Maybe because without easy access to guns, the mass murders wouldn't kill so many people in such a short time?
Besides, isn't the NRA's mantra that every nut should be able to own his/her own arsenal until/unless he/she kills a few dozen people and therefore "proves" his/her unfitness to "protect himself/herself" from the police and the military?
Just wondering if you consider passing multiple background checks and waiting 10 days after purchase now considered "easy" access to guns?
Not at all. I know many people, my daughter included, who own guns. They are responsible in their ownership. The Crazy people that kill aren't to blame alone, they are supported by the insane people who believe the crazy people have a "right" to buy guns.
Exactly. The real insane people are NOT the mentally ill.
I want the best chance to protect myself and my family and that is with a semi automatic weapon.
The difference between a semi automatic hand gun or rifle and a revolver or a lever action rifle is not very big, especially when fewer than 10 rounds are fired by criminals during an attack most times and rifles are hardly used in murders in general.
You are caught up in a few horrible acts but are missing the fact that violent crime (including murder) is at 30-40 year lows.
You need to look at the big picture.
I suspect that many mass murderers feel the same way.
It's not irrational because the NRA ALWAYS stands in the way of keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.
The NRA does not stand in the way of keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.
The NRA points out that the only effective way to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill, is to keep guns out of the hands of every person on earth.
And the NRA stands in the way of efforts to keep guns out of the hands of every person on earth.... exactly as they should.
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