I was watching CNN the other day, Friday I believe, when they had a short interview with an 'mental health' expert (or counselor or social worker -- I forget).
She tried to walk a fine line between supporting American's rights to own guns, with our social responsibility to make sure that those who would harm others, do not get those guns.
She faulted the current background check system, as not going far enough -- to find those potentially dangerous gun owners.
She then asserted that a very common denominator, in many of the tragic Mass Shootings in America, is that the Shooter was Suicidal. And because of that condition, they are a clear danger to themselves, and possibly others.
She then went on to assert that there are simple series of questions, that health workers can ask to determine a person's suicidal state of mind. She implied that gun-shop personnel could easily ask those simple questions too.
The interview abruptly ended after that -- before she could go into more specifics.
- - - - - -
Having lost a family member myself due to a Suicide, from a far-too-easily purchased shot-gun -- what this 'mental health' expert was saying -- rang very true to me. If only the gun-shop owners knew they were enabling a 'Death Wish', when they sold that gun -- quite possibly they would have declined the sale.
I've tried to locate the follow-up news article, or obligatory Video of that interview, on the CNN site -- to no avail. So my flawed recollections of the interview will have to do, for now. (Perhaps someone more skilled than me with Teh Google, can find it.)
I have dug up a few related links, after the fold. But I thought this topic of Suicide Potential and Prevention may be worthy of further discussion, as a feasible Gun Violence Reduction plank.
Sometimes the "crazy person with a gun" -- is suffering from a detectable and treatable condition of -- "just wanting to end it all." you know Good-bye Cruel World, and all that, etc. etc. PS. It can be, and often is, a passing condition, with the right counseling and social support.
A compassionate and caring Society would do all it could to supply those restorative things.
... and those related links, on the topic:
Suicide risk can help us understand school shootings
by Daniel J. Flannery, Special to CNN -- Decr 24, 2012
[...]
For many years, we have done a pretty good job of getting people to take threats of suicide seriously. If a young person walks into a counselor's office and says something like, "I think I'm going to kill myself," that counselor has been professionally trained and socialized to not underestimate the threat of self-injury.
Certainly, not every young adult who says such a thing goes on to commit suicide. Evidence shows that many of them have at least thought about hurting or killing themselves at some point, but few actually make a real attempt and fewer still carry it out.
Developing a good model for assessing the risk of suicide can provide a framework for how to assess the seriousness of threats to commit acts of violence toward others.
For example, one of the best predictors of suicide is previous suicide attempts. We try to determine whether a person has access to lethal methods of self-harm (drugs, firearms) and how detailed are the plans to carry out the act. We look for signs of anger and whether the person has experienced a recent crisis or loss. We try to figure out if a person's sense of rejection or disenfranchisement leads to a sense of hopelessness about the future, and a conviction that suicide is the only way out of a desperate situation. [...]
A non-selfish
committor completer of Suicide -- harms only themselves.
A rage-filled person entertaining Suicide -- well, their circle of harm, can make the headlines.
Mass Shootings and News Media: A Connection?
by Max Kutner, newsweek.com -- Oct 2, 2015
[...]
Mental health experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and elsewhere have said that suicide can also be contagious, and reporters must be wary when covering this as well. The World Health Organization and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention issue guidelines to journalists. Among the suggestions are to withhold information about the suicide itself (such as method of killing and where it happened) and to refrain from using the word “commit,” which sounds criminalizing.
[...]
The question that come closest to detecting this "common condition" of most Mass Shooters, on the currently Background Check Questionnaire seems to be this:
Firearms Transaction Record Part I -- Over-the-Counter
11. 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?
Where is the simple question -- missing from these obligatory, often cursory background checks -- for 'owning and operating' potentially lethal Guns:
Have you ever thought about Suicide?
It might make them think twice, if nothing else. (both the buyer and the seller)