Cooler heads are speaking out

[michaelbsc]

True, but we also need to place blame on the mental health system of America...

Irrespective of the fact that we do not have this particular individual's history, and without regard to the particulars of whether he had Asburger's/Autism or one of the Schizophrenia axis disorders, the details are that the system to keep a deadly weapon out of the hands of a disturbed shooter was not in place or failed.

And in the court of public opinion we, the gun owners of America, are at fault. Rightly or wrongly, and it's wrong I know, that's what the court of public opinion says.

We must become the champions of mental health, if for no other reason than our own preservation. We must make it a priority for the mental health providers to have tools and opportunity to diagnose and identify people who are at risk. If one in 10K is the at risk shooter, and the other 9,999 just happen to receive the benefit of better health care because of increased attention paid to mental health in America, well, so what. We helped make America a better place for 9,999 other people while we saved our butts from one.

But looks at what's making the news. This guy in CT. The Batman shooter.The Gifford shooter in AZ.

How many bad drug deals do you think went down in America over that same period that resulted in how many murders? Do you see them on CNN? Anybody?

No. What's all over the headlines is the guys who need help. The guys who quite frankly are sick, and not there of their own choice.

And if we do not become their champions we are going to become their victims. It must be the gun lobby, us, the gun owners of America, that pushes for changes to the mental health structures to fix this problem. Cooler heads may be speaking now, but we had darn well better make sure we're on the team.

As much as I think the White House petitions are an administration propaganda tool, I think we can use them to our advantage. There was one whiny petition begging Mr. Obama not to punish law abiding gun owners for criminal's actions. Come on.

I posted this one, an offer to place a $2 excise tax at retail sale, like on tires for the highway fund, to go to mental health. Of course it really means nothing no one writes legislation from a few hundred words of an Internet post. But the petition to ban assault weapons got 100K hits in no time flat.

http://wh.gov/nTna

You have to use this link. You can't search because it doesn't have the required 150 signatures.

And ignore it if you want. Or post something better if you want. But we want to make the offers rather than waiting on Feinstein.

 

[Screamin'Eagle]

Taking the same approach to those with mental illness would be many, MANY times worse. Imagine if I had to suddenly fight every one of the previous misdiagnosis as if I were trying to expunge something from my record!

I see what you're getting at now. Sorry for the miscommunication, I was in no way intending to imply that people who have a disorder or issue should be automatically disqualified. What I was trying to get at is that we need to do more to identify at risk people close to us and then do better job than we currently are to help them or find them help, if they need it. Whether its a therapist, behavioral specialists, tutors, mentors or whoever. This is especially important when it comes to young people; our developmental years shape us for a lifetime.

But restricting their rights so that they don't have 'access to the resources to carry out malicious and evil thoughts', leaves MANY people who will be caught up in misdiagnosis, medication or otherwise.

This is more in a reference to the mother not securing her firearms when away from the range from an individual who she knew had issues. He should not have had access to the guns. I did not mention further limiting people's rights, rather urging people to protect and guard their own assets from being used in a crime.

 

[Screamin'Eagle]

A little story about guarding your weapons.

I have a permit to carry and at the time I worked as a tow truck driver. It was winter and I was carrying in a shoulder rig. I had a thick jacket on. The retention strap on the galco shoulder rig I was using came undone while I was hooking up a vehicle in a driveway, and the gun came out without me knowing it. I got home and started undressing and noticed the gun was not in the shoulder rig. I stopped and recalled where I had been since I last KNEW it was in the shoulder rig. I concluded that it had been dropped within one city's boundary. I immediately called the police in that city and reported the situation-right then and there. After I got off the phone, I jumped in the truck and immediately started back tracking and searching pickup and drop off locations until I got to the driveway it was laying in. I then called the police department and let them know the firearm was recovered. Never heard anything more about it.

While the situation never should have occurred in the first place, I am thankful I got it back. Humbly, I make the request for people to make securing their arms a priority, lest a criminal get a hold of it and wrought evil.