Murder Is Murder

Another mass shooting has taken place, this time in Oregon. While I agree with the Sheriff in this case who refuses to use the shooters name, in the long run it's irrelevant. Law enforcement will conduct it's investigation and as the public we will get a glimpse of that person's life.

Murder Is murder whether it's one or nine. I agree with President Obama's comments about our numbness and were I in his position I too would be frustrated however, other than banning all guns, gun sellers and manufacturers, what's there to do? That doesn't even take into consideration all the guns already in private hands.

Let's take the NRA out of the equation, they do not represent their membership, they represent the gun manufacturers. If you don't believe that, you're delusional. But it doesn't matter.

We're not getting rid of guns, the will of the majority is not there. So what to do? No real proposals are placed on the table for serious review. There's just a lot of hand wringing and statements about something must be done. And here's where I get disturbed and you should too. The mental illness issue gets brought up and we hear we must stop these people from getting guns. These statements only further serve to discriminate and marginalize the mentally ill who by and large are not a threat to anyone, including themselves. Physical and mental illness must be merged and we need to increase research on mental disorders. People who commit murder are in a different category and must be treated that way.

Consider this, the only way to quote " keep the guns out of the hands of the mentally ill", is to make your medical records open for review by law enforcement and other public officials. If you're alright with that you might want to reconsider. If you've ever been treated for depression or anxiety issues you could be considered a threat. If you're neighbor gets mad at you and reports you as being wierd and known to have a gun, you could find yourself in trouble.

The phrase "gun free zone" keeps getting thrown around as some new thing and that it has some meaning beyond the definition of the words themselves. There have always been gun free zones, meaning no guns allowed on this property, be it public or private. I began my professional life in the private security industry in the 1980's. The facilities I ran were all gun free zones because management of the businesses and in one case the F.A.A. said so. There was an incident in which the police informed me that I and some others were potential targets of a former disgruntled employee who was heard to say he was going to kill us and that he was armed with a pump shotgun. The police warned me to be alert and that they were looking for the man. You can bet that I was concerned walking to and from my car. But guess what, had that horrible threat became reality he would have killed me in a gun free zone.

I'm willing to listen to any proposals on gun laws but I am not willing to accept the further stigmatization of mental illness which keeps people from seeking help because of a fear of having their privacy violated.