Inflammatory speech didn’t fuel Arizona rampage? Histrionic political discourse from talk radio, cable television and political leaders is not the real issue. The real issue isn't easy and neat, doesn't fall into the left vs. right argument that so many people love to drone over and over about.
The real issue is what are we supposed to do with someone who might be seriously mentally ill and prone to violence, especially in a society where weapons are so readily available? It's a question that gets asked a lot after many recent mass murders over the nation. The Virginia Tech massacre, Colombine shooting and others all cases in point. It's a question that's being asked again. When does our right to bear arms start and stop. No one has a right in my opinion to carry automatic clips of the size that were used in Arizona by the shooter. This was and never could be the intent of our founders and any claim that it was is baseless since they didn’t exist back then.
As many of us know mental illness has had a profound effect on our society. Schizophrenics who can’t be institutionalized and really helped against their will. This is ridiculous on it’s face because they can’t know whether it’s in fact in their interest to be hospitalized or not. Many of these people need to spend time in adult psychiatric hospitals and not on the street.
It's horrible when a society feels they have no control over a significant population of people who clearly need to at the very least get treatment and often need institutionalization. In many states laws often handcuff relatives and authorities, with the mentally ill held only for cursory examination periods. Sometimes they're returned to the streets with a prescription and little else. It's then up to the ones who are sick to realize they are sick and follow through with proper treatment, including taking medication.
The days of warehousing the mentally ill in long-term institutions have been phased out. I for one think that the pendulum has swung too far the other way. We can no longer let the patients determine their care. That is ridiculous on so many different levels. On rare occasions, those who do fall through the cracks can do something heinous.
Especially when they're able to get weapons legally and relatively easily, which is indeed another problem all together. We've seen the results again in Arizona and we realize that it’s simply not acceptable.
We also must pass laws that stop weapons whose only use is to kill other people. We must get rid off these instruments of death from our society. We also must make it just a little more difficult for people who are insane to get guns. One good way I think is to let local law enforcement issue gun permits. In that way our society and can better assured that reasonable people are getting fire arms.
All I know is that I’m sure we don’t want to be asking the same questions after the next horrible tragedy occurs somewhere. Please we must finally have a common sense approach to our treatment of the mentally ill and our use of firearms in America.
The real issue is what are we supposed to do with someone who might be seriously mentally ill and prone to violence, especially in a society where weapons are so readily available? It's a question that gets asked a lot after many recent mass murders over the nation. The Virginia Tech massacre, Colombine shooting and others all cases in point. It's a question that's being asked again. When does our right to bear arms start and stop. No one has a right in my opinion to carry automatic clips of the size that were used in Arizona by the shooter. This was and never could be the intent of our founders and any claim that it was is baseless since they didn’t exist back then.
As many of us know mental illness has had a profound effect on our society. Schizophrenics who can’t be institutionalized and really helped against their will. This is ridiculous on it’s face because they can’t know whether it’s in fact in their interest to be hospitalized or not. Many of these people need to spend time in adult psychiatric hospitals and not on the street.
It's horrible when a society feels they have no control over a significant population of people who clearly need to at the very least get treatment and often need institutionalization. In many states laws often handcuff relatives and authorities, with the mentally ill held only for cursory examination periods. Sometimes they're returned to the streets with a prescription and little else. It's then up to the ones who are sick to realize they are sick and follow through with proper treatment, including taking medication.
The days of warehousing the mentally ill in long-term institutions have been phased out. I for one think that the pendulum has swung too far the other way. We can no longer let the patients determine their care. That is ridiculous on so many different levels. On rare occasions, those who do fall through the cracks can do something heinous.
Especially when they're able to get weapons legally and relatively easily, which is indeed another problem all together. We've seen the results again in Arizona and we realize that it’s simply not acceptable.
We also must pass laws that stop weapons whose only use is to kill other people. We must get rid off these instruments of death from our society. We also must make it just a little more difficult for people who are insane to get guns. One good way I think is to let local law enforcement issue gun permits. In that way our society and can better assured that reasonable people are getting fire arms.
All I know is that I’m sure we don’t want to be asking the same questions after the next horrible tragedy occurs somewhere. Please we must finally have a common sense approach to our treatment of the mentally ill and our use of firearms in America.
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