I think mental health issues aren't just the main cause of these massacres, they are virtually the sole cause.  At the risk of repetition, we have to, as fellow citizens, dp something positive when we see ill people in our midst.  They need help, but won't/can't go get it themselves.  They don't perceive their own issues as anything wrong with them.

Personally, I think that paranoia is real, especially among the conspiracy nuts, preppers, and other folks who practice or demonstrate such bizzare attitudes and behavior.  They are not normal - their perceptions of the world and others around them are warped.  They need immediate help before they slip deeper into real mental illness.

Everyone who turns a blind eye toward someone in trouble bears some responsibility.

I remember a couple of decades ago when the PC crowd advanced the notion that many people in mental institutions were wrongfully held, weren't dangerous, and ought to be released to some sort of semi-controlled, but mostly free environment.  This has only gotten more so in recent years.

I'm certainly not saying that we round up and institutionalize every person who may be a little odd, but there is a dividing line between being a little odd and slipping into mental illness.  Once that line is crossed, the ill need treatment, most often in a very controlled environment.

The libs are going crazy with their "assault rifle" gibberish again, as well.

Gyrobob wrote on 12/17/12 at 08:42:23:

.. and Hitler liked dogs... big deal...

We have "gun control"...  The question isn't should we, or shouldn't we...
We already do...
The question is,... do the current reg's work... and they clearly don't...
Even some conservative, NRA approved, politicians are considering reasonable new rules...
Nobody, but nobody, needs 50 or 100 round capacity guns...

It's true that mental problems are at the root of most of these shootings,.. but these high capacity weapons are at root of the body counts...

Jerry Eichenberger wrote on 12/17/12 at 08:37:23:


Jerry, I could not agree more ...

However you do know that such a program to help every one who is likely to be going off the rails ... is likely to be the biggest ever government program ever conceived dont you ... I should say it would be great, absolutely fantastic matter of fact ... but can you imagine the scale of the right wingers revolt on this ? Think obamacare, and raise that to the power of 10 and you may be getting close to 1% of it.

You're better off suggesting gun control.

Cool.
Srinath.

I find that data to be very biased.
Look at the number of firearms per citizen:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_guns_per_capita_by_country

By your chart there Finland is the most peaceful region, yet they rank #7 in firearm ownership.
Germany ranks #15.


--Steve

"Sorry, Midnight and JOG, but when people are crazy, they are crazy, and maybe the community at large there needs to ask itself why someone didn't try to help these people with their paranoia.  Couple all of this together with the fact that the shooter had mild autism, was a recluse, etc., etc. and you had the recipe for disaster cooking for a long time." Jerry what brought that statement on? This kid is the sickest of the sick. He and his mother should have been incarcerated. There's no arguing that.

There are multiple issues here...
a lunatic steals weapons and uses them to kill is the main issue.

The weapons were legal and whether or not they could be considered "assault" weapon really isn't a point.  As too whether it was a high capacity clip or not is a matter of convienence to the shooter.  people will still be dead, just have more of a chance to run.

A bigger issue which needs to be addressed is the availability of weapons to a lunatic.  I have to have a trigger lock or secured place for all weapons.  Why weren't her weapons secured?  Why are weapons in the homes of lunatics?  They do background checks, who assesses the family or home in which the weapons will be stored?

Midnightrider wrote on 12/17/12 at 12:24:23:



BTW autism is a disorder that was created by the CDC and covered up by every agency under the purview of the CDC. They need to fess up and stop the madness.
They can deny it all they want, it has eaten into society like a cancer.

Cool.
Srinath.