A broken mental health system is endangering the second amendment.

[nynco]

I think this is a good read and helps shed some light on a key issue that is causing many people to want to ban guns. I personally feel that we need to reopen the public mental institutions in order to protect our gun rights from knee jerk people who fear guns. I know people are going to cry socialism. But look at the bigger picture here.

"I am sharing this story because I am Adam Lanza’s mother. I am Dylan Klebold’s and Eric Harris’s mother. I am Jason Holmes’s mother. I am Jared Loughner’s mother. I am Seung-Hui Cho’s mother. And these boys—and their mothers—need help. In the wake of another horrific national tragedy, it’s easy to talk about guns. But it’s time to talk about mental illness."

http://anarchistsoccermom.blogspot.com/2012/12/thinking-unthinkable.html


And I know I spelled endangering wrong. I am typing it on a small screen and just could not see it well till after... sigh no way to fix that now. [MOD: Fixed it]

[Clint45]

That is some spooky shit. The Reagan administration decided to close all the mental institution and focus has shifted to medication . . . but a common factor in the majority of mass shootings seems to have been misuse of antidepressants, which can result in severe side effects including hyperaggression, impulsiveness, and psychotic break. Time to bring back the loony bins.

[BushMasterBoy]

Mental health research is severely lacking. Psychiatrists are the witch doctors of the medical profession. I have read that certain psychiatric drugs suppress viral activity in the human body. We also know there are certain genetic traits which are inherited, Downs Syndrome for an example. But my main concern is the virus, are some people susceptible to viral activity in their brain? The
Spanish Flu killed more people in the last 100 years than any other single cause. I think we need a federal government Department of Science. Science could solve these problems just like science put man on the moon. Is there a a definitive causative agent responsible for these young peoples problems? Viruses never make the news...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kreutzfeldt-Jakob_disease

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polio

[BREATHER]

I beleive everyone should do their own research on many matter suck as this. I ahve been trying to draw attention to this very important issue.

[BREATHER]

SUCH I meant to write SUCH....

[spqrzilla]

Ronald Reagan did not "decide" to close all mental institutions. Not least because he was only Governor of California for a portion of the time line involved. A push to make it nearly impossible to involuntarily commit a patient, pushed by the ACLU, emptied them. Certainly there was little followup of non-residential mental health facilities but largely the problem patients did not cooperate with such in any event.

[tmleadr03]

Ronald Reagan did not "decide" to close all mental institutions. Not least because he was only Governor of California for a portion of the time line involved. A push to make it nearly impossible to involuntarily commit a patient, pushed by the ACLU, emptied them. Certainly there was little followup of non-residential mental health facilities but largely the problem patients did not cooperate with such in any event.

Nynco posted something to paint Republicans in a bad light that didn't have a founding in truth and reality?

Stop feeding the troll.

[nynco]

Tmleader, if you have nothing constructive to add move on... I never mentioned Reagan here. Read the original article that I posted to. It is not anti gun, it is pro helping insane people. Because if we don't do something about insane people, the gun grabbers are going to keep on blaming the guns.

[cstone]

Gun grabbers always blame guns regardless of whether a reason exists or not.

I read the article when it was posted in another thread. I also read much of her recent posts in her blog.

There is a need for better mental health solutions in this country, as well as the rest of the world. As she was told and posted in her blog, the only way she could get help was to get her son charged with a crime. Unless he is marked as a criminal for life, there are no other real options for him to receive institutional help at this time. That is very sad for a mother to have to deal with about her 13 year old son. Reality is often sad and sometimes makes people feel helpless.

If I was inclined to post on this woman's blog, I would ask her about her social network. Where is the boy's father? Who are her friends? Does she have access to any type of respite care? Has she looked into some of the residential treatment facilities in the country? They are very expensive, and many are beyond the reach of ordinary people. Ultimately, she will need to have her son diagnosed and marked by society. She kind of already has through her blog. She literally has gone public and stated that her son is a future potential mass murderer.

As a parent, this breaks my heart. As a citizen, it causes me great concern for our future.

None of these conversations make me willing to give up one word of the Constitution or the rights I have been given by my Creator.

Be safe.

[Bailey Guns]

"A broken mental health system is endangering the second amendment."

No. This will be just the latest in a long list of excuses for liberals in an attempt to further restrict the rights and liberties of law-abiding citizens. Not saying it's not a problem. But to liberals it fits more into the category of "never let a crisis go to waste".

[nynco]

"Unless he is marked as a criminal for life, there are no other real options for him to receive institutional help at this time."

Thats the problem with our system, we artificially make criminals in order to get them treatment. Apparently, its not working and even making the situation WORSE. Just like for some people to get medical care, they actually commit crimes. Talk about screwed up systems...

So because we have a rash amount of insane people with guns, its causing the non gun owning public to want to ban guns. If we don't advocated for fixing the mental health system, the bandaid solution is going to be gun bans.

[Ronin13]

I read that yesterday, it was posted on FB by Raven Concealment Systems. Very interesting read, and I know a few guys I grew up with who have disabilities (nynco- let's refrain from calling them insane if they're not actually diagnosed as "insane"). Their behaviors are cataloged but the system is not well catered to helping them, I can testify to that, and that is a huge problem with our society. You cannot prevent the mentally disturbed people from going off the deep end 100% of the time, and banning guns, well we all know what that does, it disarms the good people. Many have called for a law that requires a mental screening before purchasing a gun, or something to that effect... but that will cost a lot, bog down the system, and in 99.9% of cases is unnecessary. Also it begs the issue, what about those who are mentally challenged that can act normal, but have bouts or random fits of rage? What if they're having a good day when they go get screened? It doesn't work. On Friday, I was listening to 850 KOA, they had a psychiatrist call in and say that one of the problems that isn't discussed is the heavy medication of our children (IE: Ritalin). He said Ritalin is (not "is like", but is) methamphetamine, and can lead to erratic and violent behavior, and this is something we need to address before we start grabbing guns. We have a very real, serious problem in America, and I think a huge part of it is the stigma surrounding mental health. I saw it in the Army, and before we can try and attack the problem, we need to remove the stigma, and get the system better set up for success.

[rondog]

How many of you have encountered a street person/beggar that was obviously as crazy as a shithouse rat? I've lost count of how many I've seen here in Denver and other cities, and many were pretty damned scary.

[ChadAmberg]

Read a rebuttal to that woman's blog this morning, and it seems like she's just as messed up as the kid is. I'm no expert but I worked with foster care a bit, and some of what she posted I would think would qualify taking her kids away. She publicly talked about taking the kid up on a mountain and killing him, stuff like that.

[Clint45]

How many of you have encountered a street person/beggar that was obviously as crazy as a shithouse rat? I've lost count of how many I've seen here in Denver and other cities, and many were pretty damned scary.

At least here in Denver the street rats don't want for anything . . . there are numerous sources for them to get hot meals, clean clothes, winter coats, camping gear, and various other handouts. Denver's policy of "hug a bum" is so generous that homeless are bussing here from all over the country to take advantage of it.

I spent 4 years in a city on the East coast and they were a LOT scarier there. The "panhandlers" were so desperate and crazed that they are practically tackling people in parking lots.

On one hand, Denver is too generous . . . the system is overloaded and other programs are cut and resources depleted to stabilize the homeless "crisis" but it is like throwing stacks of money into the incinerator . . . the demand is ever increasing and the graft and mismanagement complicates the issue even more. On the other hand, if you do nothing and provide no outreach services, they literally attack people on the street.

We need more loony bins. Some people really are too crazed to walk the street unsupervised. I realize there have been serious abuses in the past, but as long as there is oversight and an appeals process this should work.

[ANADRILL]

I vote to commit NYNCO....

[Ronin13]

At least here in Denver the street rats don't want for anything . . . there are numerous sources for them to get hot meals, clean clothes, winter coats, camping gear, and various other handouts. Denver's policy of "hug a bum" is so generous that homeless are bussing here from all over the country to take advantage of it.

I spent 4 years in a city on the East coast and they were a LOT scarier there. The "panhandlers" were so desperate and crazed that they are practically tackling people in parking lots.

On one hand, Denver is too generous . . . the system is overloaded and other programs are cut and resources depleted to stabilize the homeless "crisis" but it is like throwing stacks of money into the incinerator . . . the demand is ever increasing and the graft and mismanagement complicates the issue even more. On the other hand, if you do nothing and provide no outreach services, they literally attack people on the street.

We need more loony bins. Some people really are too crazed to walk the street unsupervised. I realize there have been serious abuses in the past, but as long as there is oversight and an appeals process this should work.
You obviously haven't seen the bums in 5 Points (around 26th and Welton)... my buddy works security at Cervante's and he deals with 5-10 crazy bums a week that have violent tendencies. Enough to warrant off-duty DPD to post a guy up there on the weekends.

[Clint45]

You obviously haven't seen the bums in 5 Points (around 26th and Welton)... my buddy works security at Cervante's and he deals with 5-10 crazy bums a week that have violent tendencies. Enough to warrant off-duty DPD to post a guy up there on the weekends.

I used to work at Park & Market, just a few blocks from the biggest shelters in Denver. One third of our customer base was shelter rats. You'd be amazed how many have Smartphones and laptops with wifi. Many had multiple EBT cards, all from different states. Most of the worst offenders were fresh off the bus from another state and had no idea how to behave yet. The ones who've been here a while learn that by being polite they'll make a lot more money and get hassled less by DPD.