First of all, legislation is not going to provide a solution. Can anyone provide an example of a time when a government body seized control an an aspect of private life and actually made life better by doing it? "The good of the people" is the reason for EVERYTHING a government does, at least they say it is. But when is it ever really true? When has banning this or that, telling people what they can at can't do, where they can and can't go, what they can and can't buy, ever really ended up helping like they promised? Ever? But what it does accomplish is that it gives them control over another aspect of your life. With mental illness and RKBA, it gives them a list of people they can deny guns to with little to no recourse. Just like saying "felons" can't own guns. Sounds nice at first when you're thinking of a "felon" as a rapist or armed robber. But once you realize a few decades later "Felon" can include illegally downloading software or some other similiar totally non-violent and sometimes made-up crime, you see how dangerous it is.
You give the government the ability to create a "no guns/voting rights" box..and then give them the ability to decide at any time who falls into that box. Felons can't own guns. Want to restrict guns or who can vote? Make more things felonies. And now we're talking about making another "no gun rights" box that the government can toss people into. It sure sounds good now when we're thinking that only violent psychopaths will be the ones included. But we're talking about giving the same people in charge of enforcement the authority to redefine who fits anytime they want. That's very very dangerous.
A fitting quote from a great book "There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them...you create a nation of lawbreakers – and then you cash in on guilt."
Furthermore, this whole thing touches me in a personal way. I struggled with what could be be described as depression while I was in and shorty after I returned from Afghanistan the first time. A combination of an engagement ending and some things that happened while I deployed caused me to have some very dark feelings for a pretty long time. I know the Army is always harping on talking to your chain of command, seeking help, tell someone if you're having problems. Much like we're talking about recommending people seeking help now. But the Army, no matter what they tell you, places the Army first on its own priority list, not you. I saw other people who talked to their chain of command about emotional issues get ostracized, have their weapons taken away in front over everyone, pulled off missions and stuck helping in the DFAC, forced to attend counseling. When we got back at our de-mob site, they were stuck there for additional time, being evaluated by counselors, asked more questions, put on restrictions. Some got recommended that they be medically discharged. The bottom line is, if the Army feels you have a problem, they see you as the problem. Helping you is not the goal. Isolating you and minimizing your impact is their goal. And if they ruin your life and relationships in the process, so be it.
Now in a lot of ways that makes sense. We want a functioning Army as a whole. We want to make sure the Army as a whole is full of functioning soldiers. But for the individual soldier, there's a LOT of negative things that can happen to them and affect the rest of their lives, just for seeking help. Chances at careers can be lost. Friends can desert you. People's opinions of you change. You may get kicked out of the Army. You may even lose some of your rights, like the right to bear arms. This all hits close to home for me because I will never know what might have happened if I actually did what the Army said was the "best" option. Instead, I spent a lot of time talking to a close buddy. I took up a few new hobbies. I worked out a lot. I did a lot of reading and listening to music. And I feel MUCH better and have been for the past year. I didn't need the Army's "help". And something that really made me think, was that in one of my board interviews for my current law enforcement job, I was directly asked "have you ever sought counseling or medical help for mental health related issues?"
Now I wasn't forced between telling the truth and ruining my own chances of getting hired, or lying and making myself not worthy of the job in the first place. By dealing with things on my own, I avoided something that could have doomed my entire career prospect. And that would have been especially harsh since focusing on achieving my law enforcement career goals was one of the few solid things I felt I had left in my life to look forward to.
Think about what you're asking people to do. Essentially put themselves on a list of possible "troubled" individuals forever. They won't know what rights, opportunities, or future chances they might lose for good. Even in the best of cases, yeah you might get the mental help you need now, but your name will be on some paperwork forever. Who knows who and when someone will see that. Maybe tomorrow, maybe 10 years from now. And now that guy who got help 10 years ago is today being told he can't buy guns, or "sorry, we can't risk employing someone with that in their history". That's a HUGE chance to take, even if you really think the government really has good intentions about this.
