This is an update of a blog I wrote early this year. Since then, the tragedy in Connecticut and even more carnage in other communities makes my point. I brought up the sensitive subject of mental illness and guns together because I believe in the next decade we will see a slew of attacks if we don't act.
I'm not trying to take anyone's guns away. But there is a group of people who should realize it's in everyone's best interest that they waive their Second Amendment rights. I'm not pointing at someone else, I belong squarely in the group I think should not own weapons. The group I belong to, and the group I think needs different treatment, is the seriously mentally ill.
We as a country celebrate our freedoms, but surely we must admit that those freedoms need to be constrained if there is a realistic possibility of completely irrational acts at the most stressful moment? Our standards of freedom are based on the assumption of free will, and I can tell you from a very personal perspective that free will when mentally ill is a very tricky concept. Why risk it when so many of our national shooting tragedies involve people found to be suffering from a very small list of illnesses – primarily either paranoid schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, mixed in with the occasional personality disorder. In addition to preventing the slaughter of innocents, sufferers of these illnesses often commit suicide, and often by gun. We will save many, many lives if we restrict the legal access of guns to people of demonstrably sound mind.
I have Bipolar Disorder inherited from my family and some combination of personality disorders developed during a rough childhood. I take a combination of Big Pharma meds and Medical Marijuana that has given me a great amount of stability in the past couple of years. But at any time my illness can "break through" these medications resulting in a manic state during which my judgment and even morality can change. In fact, you can almost count on someone with a serious mental illness having periods where their illness overcomes their treatment.
I have no doubt we will find the Connecticut shooter was delusional at some level. Who could do that to their fellow human beings without some delusion? But how did someone with such a loose grip with reality acquire his arsenal without tripping over laws meant to catch just such a thing? How did the Arizona Congressional shooter get a gun in his emotionally deteriorated condition?
The NRA has tremendous power in Washington, and if anyone can stop a groundswell to modify a law, it is their lobby. But seriously, how difficult would it be to add an option that allows someone to put themselves on an exclusion list? I had previously suggested an involuntary system, and I believe we already have safeguards for people who have an established history, but beyond these limited controls I think the best first step would be a robust voluntary program. Let us and our families self-regulate as a solid first step in stopping the gun carnage in our lives.
I'm not trying to take your guns away. But you still should be trying to take away mine.