A very good article regarding the changing mental health laws.
by Charles Krauthammer
Every mass shooting has three elements: the killer, the weapon and the cultural climate. As soon as the shooting stops, partisans immediately pick their preferred root cause with corresponding pet panacea. Names are hurled, scapegoats paraded, prejudices vented. The argument goes nowhere.
Let’s be serious:
(1) The Weapon
Within hours of last week’s Newtown, Conn., massacre, the focus was the weapon and the demand was for new gun laws. Several prominent pro-gun Democrats remorsefully professed new openness to gun control. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is introducing a new assault weapons ban. And the president emphasized guns and ammo above all else in announcing the creation of a new task force.
I have no problem in principle with gun control. Congress enacted (and I supported) an assault weapons ban in 1994. The problem was: It didn’t work. [.........] Unless you are prepared to confiscate all existing firearms, disarm the citizenry and repeal the Second Amendment, it’s almost impossible to craft a law that will be effective.
Feinstein’s law, for example, would exempt 900 weapons. And that’s the least of the loopholes. Even the guns that are banned can be made legal with simple, minor modifications.
Most fatal, however, is the grandfathering of existing weapons and magazines. That’s one of the reasons the ’94 law failed. At the time, there were 1.5 million assault weapons in circulation and 25 million large-capacity (i.e., more than 10 bullets) magazines. A reservoir that immense can take 100 years to draw down.
(2) The Killer
Monsters shall always be with us, but in earlier days they did not roam free. As a psychiatrist in Massachusetts in the 1970s, I committed people — often right out of the emergency room — as a danger to themselves or to others. I never did so lightly, but I labored under none of the crushing bureaucratic and legal constraints that make involuntary commitment infinitely more difficult today.
Why do you think we have so many homeless? Destitution? Poverty has declined since the 1950s. The majority of those sleeping on grates are mentally ill. In the name of civil liberties, we let them die with their rights on.
A tiny percentage of the mentally ill become mass killers. Just about everyone around Tucson shooter Jared Loughner sensed he was mentally ill and dangerous. But in effect, he had to kill before he could be put away — and (forcibly) treated.
Random mass killings were three times more common in the 2000s than in the 1980s, when gun laws were actually weaker. [.........]
(3) The Culture
We live in an entertainment culture soaked in graphic, often sadistic, violence. Older folks find themselves stunned by what a desensitized youth finds routine, often amusing. It’s not just movies. Young men sit for hours pulling video-game triggers, mowing down human beings en masse without pain or consequence. And we profess shock when a small cadre of unstable, deeply deranged, dangerously isolated young men go out and enact the overlearned narrative.
If we’re serious about curtailing future Columbines and Newtowns, everything — guns, commitment, culture — must be on the table. It’s not hard for President Obama to call out the NRA. But will he call out the ACLU? And will he call out his Hollywood friends?
[........] We’re living not through an epidemic of gun violence but through a historic decline.
Except for these unfathomable mass murders. But these are infinitely more difficult to prevent. While law deters the rational, it has far less effect on the psychotic. [........]
But there’s a cost. Gun control impinges upon the Second Amendment; involuntary commitment impinges upon the liberty clause of the Fifth Amendment; curbing “entertainment” violence impinges upon First Amendment free speech.
That’s a lot of impingement, a lot of amendments. But there’s no free lunch. Increasing public safety almost always means restricting liberties.
We made that trade after 9/11. We make it every time the Transportation Security Administrationinvades your body at an airport. How much are we prepared to trade away after Newtown
Read the rest - The roots of mass murder
Tags: Charles Krauthammer
I did not read the entire article, but while Charles states:
I think he is missing the mark, and is ignoring the “Never let a good crisis go to waste” totalitarians who hijack and twist tragedies to their own political and usually IMHO nefarious ends.
And how much real choice will we have in anything done on any of these issues?
@ Tanker:
I don’t see any choice.
We will be dictated to.
As I said the so called national conversation will be as one sided as comrade zero’s bipartisanship.
citizen_q wrote:
Speaking of which, the zero is about to take to the stand and continue his bipartisanship! /////
@ Tanker:
Time to hit the PSTFU button = MUTE
Tanker wrote:
Normally I applaud our elected officials taking vacations. No one’s life, liberty or property is safe when the legislature is in session (Mark Twain?)
Comrade zero and his royal court is an exception. He is always a danger to the above and add in the treasury as we foot the bill for his fancy 3 week Hawaii vacation.
He is on again! How many times a day does Obama get himself
on television?
He is saying that Congress should take a few days off for
Christmas and then get back to fix the fiscal mess.
Of course he didn’t cancel his trip to Hawaii.
@ RIX:
I said the queen mooch, would be champing at the bit for another of their multi-million dollar vacations before the election. She had to go cold turkey for a few months before for appearances sake.
@ citizen_q:
Oh yeah, Moochelle is not missing another vacation.
Watch how many photos have her filling her face.
@ RIX:
Its a pretty good case study of media bias how these royal getaways get little if any bad press.
@ citizen_q:
THat’s not fair. All the European royalty put together don’t cost as much as POTUS.
@ Mike C.:
A POTUS, or this POTUS?
Later, have to fix dinner.
Icitizen_q wrote:
@ RIX:
Its a pretty good case study of media bias how these royal getaways get little if any bad press.
yeah, they would crucify Bush.
Mike C. wrote:
Nor do they feel so entitled.
citizen_q wrote:
She just can’t help herself.
I don’t look at their pictures or listen to their voices…I can’t stand the Obamas…couple of pimps slogging off on your dime…they are crude and tasteless, no style no class…a pair of wannabe frauds that have no clue as to how they are perceived…Mooch is a cow with a serious jaw problem, BO is a make believe dandy who is so dim witted but egotistical he cannot socialize without making a monkey of himself…he’s filled his admin with sycophants that do the ape dance for him…these two animals are a fucking disgrace
heysoos wrote:
All true and alas, the second term doesn’t even start for another month. We could use a miracle.
heysoos wrote:
No class indeed, even worse then the CLinton’s I am no fan of W. but he and his wife had tons of class.
@ Speranza:
not a big fan of GB as a politician, but you are exactly right…a good a decent man and wife…I thought Laura Bush made an excellent First Lady
I’d drink with GW….conversely, I’d head butt BO if I had the chance…
(gettin a tad rowdy here….Rodan’s gonna bust my ass)
Where is Krauthammer from?
While I agree with him 90% of the time there are several points he both misses the mark and falls into the liberal talking points.
Specifically these:
Really? Supported a ban on something that the people enacting the ban can’t even correctly define?
Umm, GOOD. We don’t want a comprehensive ban that works.
What’s the point here? these things shouldn’t even be considered for a ban anyway. There is no reason for it.
And his point is? Yes by all means lets ban every possible thing that could make someone do this. That would be EVERYTHING.
Besides the studies have already shown there is no increased propensity toward violence due to games, movies, etc unless that individual is already mentally ill.
Exactly and since the facts say the opposite of what the gun grabbers say, then they needs to get the hell out of the process. Stop furthering political careers of the left on the bodies of the innocent victims. And the rights of those who never did wrong.
Speranza wrote:
I remember reading about the total mess the White House was left in after the Klintons left. I’m terrified at what these classless trash will do to the peoples house.
http://www.livescience.com/25656-pygmy-whales-living-fossils.html
Another species the biologists and paleontologists were wrong about and the cryptozoologists were right about.
@ Mars:
I wager it would be the equivalent to a Section 8 eviction.
citizen_q wrote:
Racist ///
@ Mars:
And a bitter clinger too.
There’s a non-sequitur here. Sadistic violence shown in an entertainment venue did not make them psychotic.
I wish they’d stop letting libs lie on FNC.
Some idiot from an anti-gun group was just talking about people being able to buy guns over the internet without a background check, which is absolutely not the case.
And now there’s some jackass talking about how the people of Colorado voted to “regulate pot like alcohol and get the tax revenue from it.” Again, false. All the referendum here did was decriminalize possession of small amounts. It doesn’t make it legal to sell, and sure doesn’t tax it.
@ lobo91:
and now 4 million people are uninformed
was waiting for the football game to start, when I figured out it was Fri not Sat…living alone has it’s drawbacks
I was just up at WalMart picking up some targets and stuff, and I walked by the ammo case.
It looked like locusts got to it.
Not a single box of .22, .223, or any handgun calibers in stock.
lobo91 wrote:
I wish they would stop letting libs period.
heysoos wrote:
OTOH, you can break wind whenever you like. /
Formal Reprimand Issued To Flatulent Federal Worker
Man’s gas blamed for creating “intolerable” workplace
Here’s a link to the press conference Wayne Lapierre held today at NRA headquarters if anyone is interested.
@ citizen_q:
heh, I don’t mind…I’m secluded and safe where I am and all my kin love it here, when they show up…I go back home 2-3 times a year
citizen_q wrote:
just watch… he will claim it as a disability and collect a pension
“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”
@ heysoos:
I’m a fan of NM. Wife and visited again last July. Stuck here in the Cuba on the Chesapeake.
@ lobo91:
Our local news just showed a teaser about the press conference. Of course they focused on the code pinko.
@ citizen_q:
I’m only about halfway through watching it. That must come later.
@ citizen_q:
NM is the last bastion for people that want to put their history behind them…it was always this way…NM is full of leave me alone type personalities, including mine…NM in 2012 is not that much different from NM circa 1880
citizen_q wrote:
Don’t try to sugar coat it. We know you’re camping just outside of Mordor on the Potomac…
Da_Beerfreak wrote:
I visit and party back east every year…as much as I love DC and the big metro areas, I could not survive the surly, fast paced, obnoxious attitudes of east coasters…I lump
@ heysoos:
Interesting, I did not know that. It reminds me of a curious experiance I had on our trip. We visited Ortega s outside of Chimayo (?), where they weave rugs. the have a small gift shop and in that shop a small area of books of local interest. They had 15 different books on Marranos and Conversos
I love the scenery, dry climate, and the food.
The wife and even planned our wedding so we could spend part of our Honeymoon in ABQ for the Balloon Festival.
Jon Hammer is home.
@ Da_Beerfreak:
Close enough to almost see the baleful eye of Saruon searching for pockets of freedom and liberty to quash.
heysoos wrote:
Well I should hope you consider yinzers an exception………..
@ citizen_q:
if you do, stop by and you can buy me a drink…seriously, NM is unique as far as I can tell, in that people tend to their own affairs, are far less judgmental, and just an easy going place to live…I could live wherever I want, and I choose ABQ
@ eaglesoars:
ooh rah!…I was about to launch my own prison busting rescue mission…
good news indeed
heysoos wrote:
hey! I resemble that statement.
heysoos wrote:
His congresswoman (I forget her name) was on O’Reilly. She said State and the WH did NOTHING. No behind the scenes machinations, nothing.
eaglesoars wrote:
I might if I knew what a yinzer is…I suspect it has something to do with a hoagie…around about of course…once again, I consider the entire country my hood and if this has anything to do with Pittsburg I’ll eat my shorts…I like that town
heysoos wrote:
dig in Sparky!!
@ heysoos:
LOL! I would love to. I will keep that in mind for our next trip out that way.
@ brookly red:
you are tolerable…I can’t say the same for your sister over in Manhattan
citizen_q wrote:
Many years ago I used to live across the river within sight of the Washington Monument. It’s not hard for the imagination to place the baleful eye of Saruon up there to watch everything inside the beltway.
lobo91 wrote:
that would cost a lot of money and a lot of places don’t have it. Instead of police officers may I suggest the Sate Militia
@ Da_Beerfreak:
I can dig that metaphor
brookly red wrote:
We need law enforcement from Thailand?
Comic relief for the gun buying frenzy… this is from a board that I haunt regularly. $1000 for a vanilla 10/22
http://www.northwestfirearms.com/rifle-classifieds/111961-ruger-10-22-assault-rifle-bananna-clip-%241000.html#post738388
/galt
CynicalConservative wrote:
gulp
Why are New Yorkers always depressed??
The light at the end of their tunnel is New Jersey…
eaglesoars wrote:
Da_Beerfreak wrote:
who is depressed? every day 2 million come here leave their money and go home… what’s not to love.
@ brookly red:
Two million, that’s almost equal to half the population of the state I live in.
brookly red wrote:
We love NYC. Every summer we used to get a gorgeous room at the Millenium Hilton across from the WTC for the weekend and go to a Yankees game, museums, etc. I found New Yorkers to be some of the friendliest people…can be a bit brusque but truly nice
@ 27 eaglesoars: True. But what I think happens is that the people on the edge use slasher movies as a gateway feedback until they snap. Then they have been programmed poorly by hollywood to resolve their issue.
Da_Beerfreak wrote:
that is why we have the electoral college…
@ 28 lobo91: Fuzzy generalities making the mass media rounds about how the country is shifting to gun control after the shooting.
darkwords wrote:
interesting term -- quite useful.
@ brookly red:
Thanks to the Great Compromise of 1787.
eaglesoars wrote:
the fact is half of NYers aren’t born here, they wanted more than their hometown had to offer and come here to seek fame and fortune (or at least a job) the rude New Yorker is actually an out of stater who thinks he is too good for where he came from.
Confirmed. My 20.5 year old cat is senile. About an hour ago I went out to the garage to put away some tools. Totter (the surviving twin of Teeter & Totter) was alertly sitting in her shit box. I assumed she was taking a dump so I averted my eyes, put the tools away and went back inside. I went back out to the garage a few minutes ago and she was curled up and asleep in the shit box. And she has a very nice sleeping box, cushioned with old towels, lined with a flannel bed sheet and equipped with a heating pad. Not much doubt in my mind that she has oldtimer’s.
What a disgusting human being.
Childless Lib Sandra Fluke: How we raise boys leads to gun violence.
huckfunn wrote:
I had a dog with that and my gave her Serlogeluse (sp?) it is made by Pfizer but the generic is about 9 bucks a month… she got almost 2 more yrs of life and sharp as razor. I wish they would test it on humans.
eaglesoars wrote:
Liberalism is not only a mental illness it is an affront to Gods plan.
brookly red wrote:
I’m not sure if want a 20.5 year old cat to live 2 years longer, but that’s just me.
brookly red wrote:
You’ll LOVE this one.
CNN.com contributor Aarathi Prasad yearns for an “egalitarian” brave new world of laboratory babies and artificial wombs.
eaglesoars wrote:
She’s actually right, if by “we” she means her fellow liberals who have spent the past 40 years trying to turn boys into girls.
eaglesoars wrote:
The crap being spewed from CNN, MSNBC and now ESPN are the ravings of lunatics. Where do they dream this stuff up?
CynicalConservative wrote:
Here in Arizona there are plenty of 10/22′s on the shelf. There’s not even all that much panic buying of
handguns…1911′s, Glocks, SiGs and what not can still be had at roughly the same prices as last week.
But the walls at Scottsdale Gun Club and US Auto Weapons that were full of AR’s, AK’s and the like two weeks ago are bare.
eaglesoars wrote:
they are just so Godless, they just can’t deal with the concept of a higher power…
lobo91 wrote:
Libs think testosterone should be regulated/banned.
brookly red wrote:
They ARE the higher power. Get with the program.
eaglesoars wrote:
there is a funny irony to that. male hair loss drugs are basically estrogen…
brookly red wrote:
BWAHAHAHAHA!!
The Osprey wrote:
Yay! Gun porn.
eaglesoars wrote:
yup so it seems the best way for a guy to attract women is to become one
an oot is up
brookly red wrote:
Not true. Many women find bald men quite attractive. Like me. I married one………….
Think Yul Bryner. LL Cool J
eaglesoars wrote:
I think that may be the first time in history those 2 were mentioned in the same sentence
brookly red wrote:
Yeah but he will have hair but not able to do “it”, That’s the trade off.