The current “discussion” in the media about gun control that
was initiated by President Obama’s response to the church shooting in
Charleston seems more politically motivated rather than a sincere effort to
analyze the issue of mass killings that the USA has experienced during
President Obama’s 2 terms in office. There has been virtually ZERO discussion
of the mental state of those who commit these heinous crimes. I contend that a woefully inadequate mental
health system – and the entire way our health and legal systems engage the
issue around mental health is a major part of the problem.
If someone is 21 years old, but has not met the current
“legal definition” to indicate they might be violent to themselves or others
they cannot be forced to be institutionalized or take medication. In fact, the
Charleston killer, from recent reports, WAS seeing a therapist who was aware of
his fantasy to commit a mass killing, but didn’t feel it rose to the legal
definition where if she disclosed it to authorities, she would be protected
legally in civil court. This has to be
fixed.
Another issue in mental health is that government funding
for separate mental health facilities for non-criminal patients as been
re-allocated to the prison systems, where mental health issues are also
intense. So basically, the mentally ill have to commit a crime before they can
be institutionalized. This is why we see so many of the mentally ill on the
streets today. They have nowhere to go to get help.
Of course, the third leg of this issue is the lack of the
laws currently on the books to enforcement strict gun control. How could the Charleston shooter get a permit
to buy a gun if a proper background search was done on him? After the crime was
committed, the media had no problem identifying him as a loose cannon ready to
explode.
I realize that my analysis is simplistic analysis, and it
would find a lot of resistance because the issues of “civil liberties” for the
mentally ill would arise (and the definition of mentally ill would have to
change) but this is a societal problem that needs to be properly addressed with
something more than just “gun control”.
