Some years back, I took part with friends in a fund-raising charity “shoot” at a local military base. We were allowed to fire standard military rifles and pistols at targets and be scored on our accuracy. Hell…I came very close to placing among the winners with both. It was like being at the carnival only with real weapons and greater distances to the targets. Oh…we were also allowed to fire AK47’s at targets but without being scored.
Tonight I heard a bonehead midwest republican fossil say there was really no difference from standard rifles other than color and shape. He really said that. Folks…there is a difference. The kick was so extreme that most shots were going randomly into a dirt wall behind the targets. A powerful weapon and a powerful experience to say the least. Each bullet ripped into that dirt wall like an explosion. It was clear that any softer target would be ripped apart beyond recognition.
They want us to believe that guns don’t kill people, people kill people. I do know that people with assault weapons can absolutely destroy people.
If so, who are these people? We’re told they are mentally ill people. And all we have to do is stop mentally ill people from walking the streets and all this insanity will cease. Jeffrey Dahmer killed…and ate people. Was he institutionalized in a mental hospital? No…he was sentenced to prison. Charles Manson…slaughtered people. Hospital? No. Prison? Yes. I have no doubt that both were severely disturbed. But it was not decided that their “mental illness” caused their actions. Dahmer was found sane at his trial. Manson was imprisoned until his death. It had been decided it was their will to act in such ways, not mental illness. And…of course, their weapons.
And now…roughly on a daily basis…we have some guy (it’s always a guy, isn’t it)…taking his arsenal of innocent weapons into schools, concerts, and malls and blowing away innocent children and adults. Oh the horror. Thoughts and prayers. Sometimes they blow their own sick brains around the room and we thank them for that. Others? They go to jail.
I’ve been a psychologist for nearly forty years. I’ve worked with those who might truly be considered “ill”…schizophrenics, severe bipolar disordered, OCD, etc. as well as those whose symptoms are more the result of difficult life circumstances… PTSD, depression, anxiety, multiple personalities, and addictions. I have come across some who made no attempt to hide their racist attitudes. There might have been a few who had the potential to act out in some way. But never have I seen anyone…we’re talking hundreds if not thousands of individuals…with the potential…or motivation…to become a mass murderer.
So here’s the problem. If these assault weapon-toting, violent people are somehow psychologically damaged or “ill”, they likely have what are called personality disorders or character disorders. These disorders are notoriously resistant to treatment. More importantly, those with an antisocial or narcissistic personality disorder DON’T BELIEVE THEY HAVE A PROBLEM AND ARE NOT LIKELY TO SEEK TREATMENT! If they have become violent at some point (think domestic violence), they are possibly in the system…the criminal justice system. (Hello? Think background checks!)
Wait…there’s more. If they DO seek or end up in treatment, laws prevent clinicians from telling anyone of their corrupted personalities unless a specific plan to do FUTURE harm is admitted. Even past acts of violent behavior must remain confidential! If there WERE background checks, they will not reveal that someone is or has been in therapy, has a relevant diagnosis, or has been taking psychotropic medications.
Do you see? It is true that we sorely need to make mental health services available and affordable to everyone. Tell the greedy insurance companies. Tell the greedy republicans. Tell the corrupt president. But to think that doing so will lead to preventing mass shooting is misguided at best.
The solution is to remove weapons that can kill so many innocent victims in mere seconds. The solution is to have background checks…criminal background checks…to keep all weapons out of the hands of those most likely to kill. (I would love to keep guns out of the hands of hunters…or at least arm the animals…but that’s another story)
The solution is to remove a president who implicitly and explicitly encourages racism, violence against anyone not white, and the use of assault weapons, who fuels hate and white privilege, who lacks human decency who lacks an ounce of empathy. The solution is to remove self-serving republicans from office and send them home with their fat pensions and other benefits. Then and only then can we outlaw assault weapons, bump stocks, and automatic weapons with high capacity magazines. We might even begin to take domestic violence, sexual assault, and bullying seriously.
Hundreds if not thousands. Clients who were leaving hospitals in need of aftercare. Clients who crossed my private office threshold voluntarily, seeking help. Broad range of diagnoses, mental illnesses, emotional conflicts, and dysfunctional family backgrounds. Not one. NOT ONE of them was capable of mass killings. I guarantee you. And if they had been…and if they’d told me they were even thinking of it?
No one would know but me. I can’t tell anyone. Background checks? Police records, yes. “Mental illness” records? No way. Not available. Improve access to mental healthcare? Absolutely. A solution to mass killings? Nope. Politicians are usually lawyers. Lawyers know this. Don’t believe them….
