Mental illness and guns

Dr. Ignatius Piazza, who runs a shooting school I once attended (FrontSight), posted a long list of violent attacks where the shooter was taking medication for some sort of mental illness. Here's a similar article. The posts are well worth a look.

In many cases, the illness that was being treated is likely what triggered the violence. Shockingly, the medications, themselves, used to treat the mental illness have known side effects that also could have triggered the violence! We are giving people who are prone to violence to self and/or others drugs that are known to trigger violence! Who came up with that idea?

Coincidentally, Ann Coulter has a related piece today: "Ending gun violence requires commitment, not all of it voluntary." Please read it.

Locking up people can easily turn a bit Stalinistic, so it must be done in accordance with the Bill of Rights -- never for political purposes as did Stalin and others! But, some people are on the loose that really need to be put into a place where they can't hurt themselves and others. The ACLU, National Alliance on Mental Illness, and other similar organizations have been champions of putting the dangerously mentally-ill back into society.

There has been a recent surge in talk about gun control. My commentary in this blog is a part of that surge. But, everyone needs to come to grips with the simple fact that, while violence is easier and more efficient with a gun, the gun does not and cannot cause violence. Violence comes from a mind that isn't working right. This is the problem that needs to be addressed because with our without a gun, that mind will continue to be the problem.

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. -- Benjamin Franklin

We must always err on the side of Liberty. Liberty comes with risks -- sometimes people get hurt. The risks don't magically go away when we give up our Liberty. That's why frail old guys like me -- and school teachers -- need a gun.