Has anyone proposed a fix that would have stopped the whako that shot the Students at UCC? He passed all the back ground checks in place for the legally purchase arms he had.
Or do we just add more useless hurdles for the regular folks to clear?
A lot of behavior red flags for several years, but mostly only his family and neighbors and private school had contact with him, and strangers on 4chan goading him on at the end. It was one of them that suggested a school as a safer place to kill people.
The only contact with government was getting kicked out of boot camp after only a month, maybe that was the best chance at "diagnosing" his mental problems. Haven't heard why he washed out.
But most guys who enlist in the military do it because they have nothing else going for them as they strike out in the real world. No serious girlfriend, no plotted career course, a general feeling that they've been nurtured for 18 years only to be kicked to the curb without a guidebook or pocket change. They're perfectly sane, just socially adrift. For most, it's exactly what they need to get on track. Structure, purpose, camaraderie, training, confidence, pride.
I think it falls on family and friends, when they have influence. But there's nowhere for them to turn for help really. Our mental healthcare is expensive and ineffective. Nobody really has a clue how to "cure" crazy people. Would counseling have sent Hitler down a different path? Doubtful.
Crazy + anger = violence.
The mentally ill have always been discarded or shut away and lobotomized in the past.
But over the last 4 decades their numbers have multiplied beyond belief.
About 36,000 Americans commit suicide each year.
About 29,000 of those Americans commit suicide without using a firearm.
Now there's an issue to campaign for President on, preventing 36,000 suicides each year.
But here we are talking about guns again.
