Mass Killings: Solutions: The Killer

[glintofpewter]

I'm not done thinking about the mass kilings and whether there are any workable solutions which would improve the situation. I do have my arguments but will put them aside. I also have doubts that there will be any really useful results in the political discussions and legislative actions. There is little agreement about the way forward and almost no collective will to accomplish any thing that will take work, commitment and sacrifice.

 

But forward...

 

Not my favorite opinionator, Charles Krauthammer, sees that solutions may be sought in three areas:

The Weapon,

The Killer, and

the Culture.

 

The roots of mass murder

http://www.washingto...9029_story.html

 

 

The NRA suggests there is a fourth: The Target

 

 

Krauthammer:

But there’s a cost. Gun control impinges upon the Second Amendment; involuntary commitment impinges upon the liberty clause of the Fifth Amendment; curbing “entertainment” violence impinges upon First Amendment free speech.

 

That’s a lot of impingement, a lot of amendments. But there’s no free lunch. Increasing public safety almost always means restricting liberties.

 

I am starting four topics for brainstorming about solutions. Please be specific. "Stricter gun laws" and "better mental health delivery systems" and "less violence in media" are not specific.

 

 

Under brainstorming rules you cannot attack another's idea. Also you cannot say it won't work because I already said it in the first paragraph above. You can ask questions for clarifications or to investigate intended and un-intended consequences.

 

THE KILLER

 

Most shooters are relatively young white males who are loners. There are many such. How do we narrow the group to discover who is most likely to be the next shooter? How do we prevent anyone from becoming a shooter?

 

Mass Shootings: Maybe What We Need Is a Better Mental-Health Policy

http://www.motherjon...-mental-illness

 

After Aurora, Questions About Mass Murder and Mental Illness

http://healthland.ti...re-and-disease/

 

U.S. mentally ill and their families face barriers to care

http://mobile.reuter...121229?irpc=986

 

Dutch

[glintofpewter]

In Colorado, which has closed the gun show loop hole, arrests for domestic violence, misdeamnor or felony, some assault charges, multiple DUIs, drug activities, and having been a resident in any psychiatric ward or institution will result in denial for purchasing a gun. Ex-felons may not purchase or possess a weapon.

 

Could there be other ways beside criminal justice events to build records that would point to people who are at more risk than just being young and male?

 

In Colorado the State Patrol accepts text mesaages to report road rage behavior. When a driver gets several over a period of time they begin to look more closely at that car. What if someplace would accept texts about an individual's behavior and at some critical point law enforcement might say, "That's interesting. Let's take a closer look."

 

What if one of those reasons for reporting is harassment on the job. The killer here had been fired a few weeks earlier. Personally I think charges of harassment or stalking are good reasons for denying gun purchases and even gun possession. If police were notified and had taken an interest, maybe just expressed their sympathy for the loss of a job, the killer might have had second thoughts. What if the company reported somewhere that they had terminated someone for harassment.

 

Person of interest in slaying of bank employee found dead in his home

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_22267573/woman-fatally-shot-at-greenwood-village-apartments

 

 

Dutch

[tariki]

What comes to mind is the answer Mother Teresa gave to the question why she had ended up serving the homeless in Calcutta........"because I saw the Hitler within me." Just so. For me there can never be a dividing line between those who would/will become "killers" and the "rest of us" who can thus spend time reflecting upon how and why others may or may not become the next mass killer and "what we can do about it".

 

As has been said, there is perhaps no solution, yet I think that saying that reveals in a way that the "solution" is/can be infinite in variety, just as - and because of - the fact that each of us is a unique being. "Salvation" - at least as I see it - can never be "cultural", but will always be individual. Each "works out their own salvation in fear and trembling", yet from my own experience seeking to put ones own "salvation/enlightenment" at the very centre of our path in fact reveals that, inevitably, genuine concern for others evolves from such an apparent "selfish" and insular stance

 

My apologies if such a view does not meet with the parameters set by the OP, yet "we murder to dissect".

 

Derek

[glintofpewter]

Further conversation toward a complete solution. In Colorado changes and improvements proposed to mental health care would

"...rewrite burden of proof requirement in a mental health hold to a patient having a "substantial probability" of being a threat rather than the harder to prove "imminent danger""

 

I understand that currently 72 hour holds alone would not create a record that would stop you from buying a gun. If you refuse further treatment and a court orders it then you can't buy a gun. I don't know if these lessor events would result in denial under the new proposals.

 

Dutch