The "Mental Health" Excuse for Doing Nothing

“Mental Health,” the Excuse for Never Having Gun Regulation
by a Clinical Psychologist
[The gun issue is frequently discussed among my friends.
This blog post was written by one pal, with credentials out the juazoo.]


"The List," Folks Too Crazy to Buy a Gun
The emphasis on mental health makes me crazy...no pun intended.  A list of people too dangerous to have guns because of their mental health? That assumes such diagnosis is possible. It’s not.
We better put him on the list!

The most difficult thing to predict is if someone is actually going to "act" on his/her mental condition. It’s functionally almost impossible. 

When a clinician is seriously concerned that a patient is at some risk for suicidal or homicidal behavior, it is NOT the first thing you do to report him to the Feds. You contact family and make sure there are no firearms in the home.  But are you going to put every depressed person on a watch list?

Which disorders beyond depression are you going to include...psychoses like schizophrenia, or mania, narcissism, substance abuse...(too many more to list)?

Never mind that list, it’s sociopaths who predominantly commit the most violence-against-people crimes, and sociopaths rarely seek mental health care - thus no record. Do we legislate that every person in the country get a mental exam?

More money needs to go to mental health treatment...no argument there...but if you think research any time soon might predict who will commit violence, just face it, that’s very unlikely....we have been trying to answer that question going back to Freud. “Minority Report” was just fiction.

So if there is a list, I think it should have only people on it who have committed serious violent crime (including domestic violence), no-fly-listers, and real “people of interest” under police observation. The old rule of thumb… “past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior" is the most proven guide. 

Beyond that, it's just science fiction.

- - - - - - - - - - -
Pet “mental health” peeve:  There is a clear record: if the murderer is white they look for psychiatric explanations, but if he is a person of color, then he is just a bad dude. Muslim, he’s a terrorist. Cases closed.
Therefore.....

The Gun Regulations We Need
(They work for nearly all mental health conditions)

A registry and training are needed (like for our cars)

Mandatory liability insurance based on the number and type of weapons owned

Prohibit semi automatic and other military style weapons....but allow shooting ranges where you can get your kicks renting such a weapon and  do recreational shooting for however long it takes to satisfy that craving.

Why I Think Regulations are Vital

Do I feel safer that 30 years ago...emphatically no.....but not due to increase in crime.  I am more worried about the guy/gal with a gun that goes into road rage when you are in their lane....or the angry guy at our mail boxes that often spouts hateful one liners if he sees a bumper sticker he dislikes.

From the perspective of a gun toting female
(I own rifles, and I encouraged my granddaughter to take riflery at camp.)



Comments

Tobey said…
I think for the most part, you are in track. Lists won’t work for all the reasons you cited. However, my only issue is your misunderstanding of “semi-automatic.” You do realize that by “banning” semi-autos that virtually means every gun in existence? A semi-automatic weapon is one that fires ONCE when the trigger is pulled (which includes all handguns, most revolvers, every rifle except for bolt-action, and some shotguns). An automatic weapon fires repeatedly as long as the trigger is held back. Some old-time revolvers are single-action which means you have to cock the hammer then pull the trigger. Most revolvers are double-action meaning you can squeeze the trigger or cock the hammer. An AR-15 is no more or less dangerous than a Winchester 30-30, a Walter P-32, or a box knife when in the hands of someone intent on harming others.

I agree with the fallacy of list-making, but the solution isn’t gun control.
10:32 AM
Anonymous said…
I think for the most part, you are in track. Lists won’t work for all the reasons you cited. However, my only issue is your misunderstanding of “semi-automatic.” You do realize that by “banning” semi-autos that virtually means every gun in existence? A semi-automatic weapon is one that fires ONCE when the trigger is pulled (which includes all handguns, most revolvers, every rifle except for bolt-action, and some shotguns). An automatic weapon fires repeatedly as long as the trigger is held back. Some old-time revolvers are single-action which means you have to cock the hammer then pull the trigger. Most revolvers are double-action meaning you can squeeze the trigger or cock the hammer. An AR-15 is no more or less dangerous than a Winchester 30-30, a Walter P-32, or a box knife when in the hands of someone intent on harming others.

I agree with the fallacy of list-making, but the solution isn’t gun control.
10:33 AM
Scooter Duff (really Willis) making an audiobook of his "MIZ, Time Tripping With Amazing Females," which you can listen to free on YouTube. said…
tobey/anon: Pull "revolvers" out of the mix, methinks. A "semi" means the weapon is cocked after each shot. Revolvers have to be pulled through to cocked after each shot with a stronger trigger pull. The Winchester 30-30 must be cocked after every shot. You cannot convert a revolver into a machine pistol with a bump stock.
Guns - of any sort - or hugely easier to deliver a fatal blow than any non-gun weapon. You never read of "drive-by stabbings," so the range of the weapons are not comparable.
The point was, semi-auto guns are a whole different category of gun. And re "box knife," hey, you left out "piano wire" and any number of dangerous devices.

11:02 AM
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