Elephant in the Room - The Connection between Mental Illness and Gun Violence

[Kidlicious]

It is a bit upsetting that people question the mentally ill on being violent when the main problem with them is being homeless.

Not that worrying about the violent mentally ill is a bad thing, but it seems that we only worry about the mentally ill when they can harm the rest of us while looking the other way when we see them sleeping in the street.

We gave up on forcing them into institutions that are run like the VA.

[PLATO]

We gave up on forcing them into institutions that are run like the VA.

Certainly wasn't an optimal solution for sure...but equally certainly better than living in a cardboard box, wouldn't you say?

The point is...we can do better than either. Mental illness only becomes a focus when something like this happens. Everyone just looks the other way until there is an "event" and then it is all "shock" that it happened.

[Ben Kenobi]

If legally drving a car is harder than legally owning a gun, then there's something amiss.

Last I checked more people die from car accidents than guns.

[Dr Strangelove]

The majority of mentally ill people in the United States are treated by GPs, internists, and family practitioners.

[regexcellent]

If legally drving a car is harder than legally owning a gun, then there's something amiss.

Driving a car is legally way easier than shooting a gun at someone, and owning a car is also much less onerous than purchasing and owning a gun. You're comparing apples to oranges. I'll let that slide for the moment to say that even if we do compare driving a car to owning a gun, cars kill far, far more people than guns do, and that's even adjusted on a basis for number of people who own cars vs. number of people who own guns.

[SlowwHand]

If you don't like guns, don't get one.

[Dinner]

That's a nice sentiment but didn't help Chris Martinez, did it? The hard truth is more needs to be done to keep guns out of the hands of crazies.

[SlowwHand]

What's your plan? You have a complaint, propose a solution. Don't just copy and paste and complain.

[Dinner]

I've already posted my proposal in another thread. I don't think I'll rehash it here but it was posted today so you can find it is you'd like.

[SlowwHand]

Did it address that putting restrictions and/or imposing a waiting limit on the vast majority to catch a few is proper? What does a mentally defective person look like?

[Dinner]

It involved no one being allowed to buy a gun until passing hundreds of hours of mental examination and then having to repeat the process every year or lose access to firearms.

In short, proving you are fit to own a deadly weapon.

[MOBIUS]

Last I checked more people die from car accidents than guns.

Motor vehicle traffic deaths

• Number of deaths: 33,687
• Deaths per 100,000 population: 10.9

All firearm deaths

• Number of deaths: 31,672
• Deaths per 100,000 population: 10.3

CDC

Only just. But then, if American drivers were as good as, say, British drivers, that number would be far lower. I think the main question here is: why do Americans seem to care so little about their lives?

Is it this guy?

Seriously, I'm past caring about this **** in the US, simply because you guys refuse to do anything about it...

[kentonio]

What does a mentally defective person look like?

...

Observation: Only black people can call people ******, and only liberals can call people gay. Psychologists can't even call people gay. Something to think about.

[Ben Kenobi]

Only just. But then, if American drivers were as good as, say, British drivers, that number would be far lower. I think the main question here is: why do Americans seem to care so little about their lives?

Are you suggesting that British firearms deaths are similar?

I'm also not sure why you're lumping in suicides but there's certainly no agenda there.

[Ben Kenobi]

Kentonio:

Which explains why British conservatives diagnose mental defectives.