So you think you know the 2nd Amendment

[gimmethesimplelife]

The peak was apparently in 1929 and was trending down in the last few years, so increase is a hard thing to pin down.

I wish they had better historic stats on mental health, but something like 38 of the last 61 mass shooters showed signs of mental illness prior to their crimes. I think as Virginia Tech points out, any gun in the hands of sick person is worse than any gun in the hands of responsible people.

If you are serious about this do you have any ideas on how we address the mental health aspects?

I do see something positive here.....While it won't get 100% of the US health coverage, ObamaCare is a good start to getting mental health care to those who are deprived it now.....Rob

[JaneV2.0]

... They didn't have money for shrinks or meds or whatever? (actually he was on meds, cue Jane)
... .

Blah blah blah black box warning blah blah blah. I am nothing if not predictable.

I recently read a three-part essay called "I was Adam Lanza" in which the author described his sad, isolated adolescence, and he credits his mother with finding him a psychologist who successfully used talk therapy to turn his thinking around. He didn't specifically mention medication, but he emphasized that a psychiatrist (who prescribes) was purposefully not chosen.

It seems obvious that a lot of potential troublemakers are in desperate need of positive connections in their lives, and this is as true in the suburbs as it is in the urban core.

[Mrs-M]

I do see something positive here.....While it won't get 100% of the US health coverage, ObamaCare is a good start to getting mental health care to those who are deprived it now.....Rob

Right on, Rob!

[iris lily]

Blah blah blah black box warning blah blah blah. I am nothing if not predictable.

In one of these threads we were talking about teenage men and the connection between shootings and sexual urges. I guessed you'd offer up hookers as a solution! But I don't think that's it, having a girlfriend is different (and sometimes more crazy making, granted) than having access to a hooker. You'd feel vindicated to know that in this book I've been reading We Need To Talk About Kevin the mom speculates more than once about this very thing. This is a fictional treatment of a teenage rampage shooter (only he used arrows, one reason to trip up his liberal parents at bemoaning easy access to guns) but it sure is interesting insight into possible motivations of these rampage killers.

[freein05]

3 fighter shoot and killed. The shooter killed himself. This type of tragedy is why I feel gun owners need to a big part of gun control in the country. You could ban all gun sales today and there still would be millions of guns out there.

We need to look at gun owners as the problem. As people say guns don't kill people do. So we need to take a close look at gun owners as the problem.

[Yossarian]

and the total inattention to data or critical thinking.

I guess I've come to terms with the culture war as part of living in a dynamic society, but some people's lack of reasoning on this issue is astounding. I think this is why they are pushing so hard to pass something soon. Good policy is good policy whenever you look at it, but the emotional blinders will (hopefully) only last so long.

[Yossarian]

but it sure is interesting insight into possible motivations of these rampage killers.

I don't know how many of them are acting off of normal impulses. The Columbine kids, the Virginia Tech killer, the Aurora CO theater shooter, and maybe Adam Lanza were all dealing with psychological issues and on some kind of psychiatric medication.

[JaneV2.0]

In one of these threads we were talking about teenage men and the connection between shootings and sexual urges. I guessed you'd offer up hookers as a solution! But I don't think that's it, having a girlfriend is different (and sometimes more crazy making, granted) than having access to a hooker. You'd feel vindicated to know that in this book I've been reading We Need To Talk About Kevin the mom speculates more than once about this very thing. This is a fictional treatment of a teenage rampage shooter (only he used arrows, one reason to trip up his liberal parents at bemoaning easy access to guns) but it sure is interesting insight into possible motivations of these rampage killers.

I read that book a couple of years ago, though I don't remember much about it. Maybe the speculation stuck with me.

[gimmethesimplelife]

I guess I've come to terms with the culture war as part of living in a dynamic society, but some people's lack of reasoning on this issue is astounding. I think this is why they are pushing so hard to pass something soon. Good policy is good policy whenever you look at it, but the emotional blinders will (hopefully) only last so long.

I ask this sincerely as I don't understand - what is the definition of "culture war" here? I see children gunned down in Connecticut, and I think we would both agree on this much - this was a senseless act, no? I see folks gunned down in suburban Portland, OR at a mall I once shopped at when I lived there, I see folks in rural PA getting gunned down, I see a lot of shooting taking place what seems fairly regularly all of a sudden. To reduce these ugly statistics down to a phrase such as culture war - if nothing else, does it not seem disrespectful to the victims and their families? Rob

[The Storyteller]

Ha, that's like saying many pro-choice people are being manipulated by Planned Parenthood and condom manufacturers.

Key difference being, PP isn't in the pocket of the manufacturers, as the NRA is to the gun making machine. This is precisely why it whips its membership into a frenzy over fake controversies, just so they will rush out and buy more guns and ammo, thus lining the pockets of its real clientele.

Personally, I don't believe the NRA gives one whit about individual gun owners. It's all about the money. The members are merely willing pawns.