Remember when 26 people (including 29 young students) were killed by shooter Adam Lanza at Sandy Hook? That was less than two years ago and it was the last time I've seen NRA Executive Vice President and Primary Gun Pimp Wayne Lapierre on national television. When I last saw him, he was, as usual, trying to change the subject. Since America leads the civilized world in gun deaths, it wasn't the guns that caused these deaths, it was that we need better mental health service because we have so many crazy people. I agree that we have a lot of crazy people but I would opine that many of the crazy people think they need guns to protect themselves from the ever present governtal, left wing, bogeyman in their neighborhood. These people do need professional help but they're too busy being American Patriots and trying on NRA baseball caps. The truth is, Lapierre may have, in the short term, won the argument. In most places, we Americans seem to be just fine with all the accidental shootings because we are so misguided that we believe that Obama wants to take our guns away and having as many guns as possible insulates us from some non exitant threat.
This past week, an item was released in the media that dealt with the fact that Adam Lanza had all sorts mental issues. He first spent time with a psychologist in 2005 or 6. A year later, he was seen at the Yale Child Study Center. It was acknowledged that he needed intensive counseling but that's where it ended. His family didn't agree and so little or nothing was done until that tragic December day in 2012 when Adam ended up dead along with the 26 innocent people that he killed. So much for getting some help with his problem. That's what's wrong with Lapierre's "pass the buck" philospophy when it comes to gun violence. In America, you can't force anyone who hasn't committed a crime to get counseling unless you go through a very lengthy process. In Adam Lanza's case the procedure would have had to have been initiated by his parents. But you can limit access to the gun(s) they might use to harm innocent people relatively simply.
Within the last week, Myron May went on a shooting spree in the library at Florida State University. Early in October, his girlfriend had contacted the Las Cruses, New Mexica police to tell them he was exhibiting signs of "a severe mental disorder." The police did nothing. So much for mental health counseling or treatment.
Wayne Lapierre and his ilk like to say that the best way to combat a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. So, just who are these "good guys?" In Myron May's cases, they were cops who weren't interested. All too often, Lapierre's good guys are lazy, unmotivated people with limited intellectual skills just trying to collect a paycheck. We could, of course, do what they do in other civilized countries that don't have our gun problem. We could just take the guns away!
This past week, an item was released in the media that dealt with the fact that Adam Lanza had all sorts mental issues. He first spent time with a psychologist in 2005 or 6. A year later, he was seen at the Yale Child Study Center. It was acknowledged that he needed intensive counseling but that's where it ended. His family didn't agree and so little or nothing was done until that tragic December day in 2012 when Adam ended up dead along with the 26 innocent people that he killed. So much for getting some help with his problem. That's what's wrong with Lapierre's "pass the buck" philospophy when it comes to gun violence. In America, you can't force anyone who hasn't committed a crime to get counseling unless you go through a very lengthy process. In Adam Lanza's case the procedure would have had to have been initiated by his parents. But you can limit access to the gun(s) they might use to harm innocent people relatively simply.
Within the last week, Myron May went on a shooting spree in the library at Florida State University. Early in October, his girlfriend had contacted the Las Cruses, New Mexica police to tell them he was exhibiting signs of "a severe mental disorder." The police did nothing. So much for mental health counseling or treatment.
Wayne Lapierre and his ilk like to say that the best way to combat a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. So, just who are these "good guys?" In Myron May's cases, they were cops who weren't interested. All too often, Lapierre's good guys are lazy, unmotivated people with limited intellectual skills just trying to collect a paycheck. We could, of course, do what they do in other civilized countries that don't have our gun problem. We could just take the guns away!
