michaelbsc
Member
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2012
- Messages
- 374
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.