Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, What's in a Name

"Repeat after me: Mass shooters are not disproportionately mentally ill."

This is the opening line of a meme that's been circulating in the aftermath of the shooting in Parkland, Fla.

But this and other efforts to downplay the role of mental illness in mass shootings are simply misleading. There is a clear relationship between mental illness and mass public shootings.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-duwe-rocque-mass-shootings-mental-illness-20180223-story.html

It's bizarre this is even a discussion. Mass shooters by definition are mentally ill.

"It Doesn't Happen Anywhere Else"

In the aftermath of a tragedy like the mass shooting in Las Vegas, political claims are tossed around rather quickly, and with little regard to the facts. Advocates of gun prohibition are quick to claim that the U.S. is uniquely prone to such events because of the Second Amendment’s protection of the right to keep and bear arms.

This claim, however, is false. In fact, as figures from the Crime Prevention Research Center show, “there were 55 percent more casualties per capita from mass public shootings in [the European Union] than U.S. from 2009-15.”

In other words, the opposite is true. There are actually more occurrences of, and deaths from, mass shootings in Europe than the United States, on a per capita basis.

https://www.thejacknews.com/law/gun-rights/the-united-states-does-not-have-more-mass-shootings-than-europe/

Using the Office Against the Duly Elected

Power corrupts.
http://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/373738-rices-odd-memo-did-obama-withhold-intel-from-trump

Just Heartbreaking

"...the new policies made public school students above the law. These policies conflicted with laws that police officers had been long-trained to follow, but now it allowed students to act as they wished, without fear of the consequences."
https://constitution.com/school-shooting-plot-exposed-wont-believe-set/

Interrupt the Pattern

I believe that after 1 or 2 of these shooters are shot down like dogs at the door of the place they were going to shoot up, this phenomenon will stop.

Salt Lake City, Utah, teacher Kasey Hansen said the idea to arm herself in school began with the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six adults died.

“It just really hit home that these teachers, all they could do was pile those kids in a corner and stand in front of them and hope for the best,” said Hansen, who carries a concealed handgun as she teaches special education students.

“I’m not here to tell all teachers that they have to carry a gun,” she said. “For me personally, I felt that it was more of a solution than just hiding in a corner and waiting.”

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/02/22/could_armed_teachers_stop_shootings_136346.html

Mass Shooting, and the Government Context

Important facts are missing from this article - valid shootings versus invalid shootings, although not easy to discern, is an important piece to give any meaning to police shootings. The larger point remains - do people realize what they are asking for when they ask that citizens be disarmed leaving only government employees with guns?
http://thefreethoughtproject.com/police-killed-450-citizens-mass-shootings/

An interesting link from the article:
http://killedbypolice.net

Mass Shooter Data Base

Fascinating.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/mass-shootings-mother-jones-full-data/

Power Corrupts

Fascinating and dark, I don't know many folks that could handle this kind of power, certainly not Trump.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/donald-trump-a-playboy-model-and-a-system-for-concealing-infidelity-national-enquirer-karen-mcdougal

But the cost to defend our kids is too high ...

"I calculate $10.7 billion based on government statistics which estimate the total number of K-12 public schools at around 99,000 and post-secondary education facilities at around 8,000. That gives 107,000 total. Multiply 107,000 by 100,000 (two security guards each making $50,000 a year) and you get $10.7 billion. I believe $50,000 is a good total estimate for the average security guard salary when taking into account state-level variations in average wage."

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/for-107-billion-we-can-dramatically-reduce-the-threat-of-school-shootings/article/2649205

I might cost double if the author didn't factor in workman's comp, days off, medical and other benefits, but it would be a steal at $40 billion. What is the budget for the department of "homeland security"?

Government Fail

"The F.B.I. failed to act on a tip in January from a person close to Nikolas Cruz warning that he owned a gun and might conduct a school shooting, the bureau acknowledged on Friday, an admission that prompted Gov. Rick Scott of Florida to call for the bureau’s director to resign."
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/us/fbi-nikolas-cruz-shooting.html

Connection

"As Chase’s teacher explained 
this simple, ingenious idea, I stared at her with my mouth hanging open. “How long have you been using this system?” I said.

Ever since Columbine, she said. Every single Friday afternoon since Columbine. Good Lord.

"This brilliant woman watched 
Columbine knowing that all violence begins with disconnection. All outward violence begins as inner loneliness. Who are our next mass shooters and how do we stop them? She watched that tragedy knowing that children who aren’t being noticed may eventually resort to being noticed by any means necessary."

https://www.rd.com/advice/parenting/stop-bullying-strategy/