The problem is one, how does someone that doesn't belong in a school get in a school and two, crazy control. The first is the final failure, the latter is the first failure. We've become a society that would rather punish and restrict those that do nothing wrong than remediate, adjudicate and eliminate the risk posed by crazy people. Somehow, crazy people have more rights than law abiding citizens. The thing is, in this latest massacre, people that knew the assailant knew he was nuts and did nothing effectively to prevent this. The same with the Aurora assailant, James Homes. Here is part F from the BATFE form 4473:
F. Have you ever been adjudicated mentally defective (which includes a determination by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority that you are a danger to yourself or to others or are incompetent to manage your own affairs) OR have you ever been committed to a mental institution? (See Instructions for Question 11.f.)May be this needs to be changed to being treated for a mental illness. May be people under psychiatric care need to register that they are under care and such information would be linked to gun purchases. We already prohibit domestic violators from obtaining firearms. From the same 4473 form:
h. Are you subject to a court order restraining you from harassing, stalking, or threatening your child or an intimate partner or child of such partner? (See Instructions for Question 11.h.)
i. Have you ever been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence? (See Instructions for Question 11.i.)
Of course we'll never see this done because gun owners, the vast majority of which don't commit crimes, are an easier target. They have no sympathy song to play for the public. With the logic hoplophobes use, we should outlaw cars and alcohol because of drunk driving (which kills more people in this country than guns do), we should outlaw forks, knives and spoons because people are obese or may be castrate all men because some of them rape women. The fallacy of their logic is almost palpable, yet they continue with it like the legion of pigs running over the cliff.
The other fault is that the school did not provide adequate security. This person didn't belong there and he got in and the tool of his evil really doesn't matter. Would it make people feel better if he used an axe, scissors or a ball peen hammer? Would they think that is better because not as many people might not be killed? Who picks who lives and dies? Again, the failure is not identifying threats before they happen, which is one, identifying mentally ill people, prevent them from buying guns and prevent people with evil intent from entering a school.
Of course we will see hand wringing about the poor mentally ill people can't get help etc, which is rubbish in many cases. In the two cases mentioned, we know that one was "getting help" and both were know to be ill. The question is, why wasn't more done about it?
Instead of blaming an inanimate object with no moral bearing, may be we need to blame the individuals involved and those that failed to stop this from happening in the first place. Someone once said that "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves...". Indeed. What we need is crazy control.
Thank you for reading this blog.
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