Gun Derangement Syndrome (GDS) is on the rise as the elections near. In New York State, Governor Andrew Cuomo managed to ram a package of gun safety laws through the legislature in the wake of Sandy Hook. The Times notes it has drawn some particular protests among the larger outrage among the GDS crowd. (Plus plenty of people upset with Cuomo for other reasons.)
Rob Astorino, the Westchester County executive and Mr. Cuomo’s Republican opponent, has said he would repeal the Safe Act. He has favored working with educators, coaches, law enforcement officers and others to help identify early signs of mental illness.
Through a Freedom of Information Law request, The Times found that more than 40,000 reports of potentially violent people had been made since the requirement took effect in March 2013. State officials said roughly 34,500 of those reports represented unique individuals; some people were reported multiple times.
One reason it is difficult to really know if mentally ill people have enough guns is because the Federal Government has been blocked from funding research into gun issues.
Only recently has the money started to flow again. Via
NPR,
"For essentially the last 20 years, there has been almost no federal support for research on a health problem that kills upwards of 30,000 people a year," says Garen Wintemute, director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at UC Davis.
Wintemute, who's also an ER physician, says since the mid-1990s, Congress has barred federal funds from going to gun violence research, linking it with gun control.
But last year, a big change happened. By executive order, President Obama directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal labs to resume the research and craft prevention strategies.
Right-wing refusal to consider guns a public health issue (while freaking out over Ebola) is pushing GDS to new heights. Digby also notes as an issue of constitutional rights,
it's trumping everything else. In light of the shootings in the news, in
Washington,
California, and
Ottowa, it would seem pretty difficult to argue that guns are not a public health issue - but
the GDS is strong with these people.
Among other things, Charles P. Pierce reflects on it before heading out on the weekend.
...So we don't have a Surgeon General at the time of Ebola because of the NRA, which has dedicated itself to making sure that there are enough guns floating around so that Jaylin Fryberg could get his hands on one and shoot up a cafeteria.
Several students identified the shooter as Jaylen Fryberg. Jarron Webb, 15, said the shooter was angry at a girl who would not date him, and that the girl was one of the people shot. He said he believes one of the victims was his friend since kindergarten. Freshmen Brandon Carr, 15, and Kobe Baumann, 14, said they were just outside the cafeteria when the shooting happened. "We started hearing these loud banging noises, like someone hitting a trash can," Carr said. They heard screaming and yelling. "Once I knew it was gunshots, we just booked it," Carr said. They eventually joined about two dozen kids inside of a classroom with police and FBI. Police told them to stay in there. "Everybody in the classroom was just freaking out crying," Carr said. Eventually, they were told they could leave, and were loaded onto buses.
Isn't it wonderful when news stories sing in harmony?
This is the 87th school shooting since we arrived at that Teachable Moment in December of 2012. It is the third one in the state of Washington since the beginning of May. But we should not consider this a public health problem because freedom, and also because Rand Paul is a doctor and says so. Therefore, we shouldn't have a qualified surgeon general in place during an occurrence of Ebola in this country so that, when the president sends up an experienced administrator to coordinate the response, we can drawl contemptuously that the guy isn't a doctor. We are so very lost here in America. I hope we find our way.