School Shooting **trigger***

I was in school when that shooting happen. I never knew why my teacher would become rude about my jacket because I had never heard of the trench coat mafia. It was not in the handbook so i didn't know i wasn't supposed to wear that long jacket after that shooting i fully understand why they were concern and it never occurred to me how easily a person could hide a weapon.

That is true and I see what you are saying Trace. I always felt age 18 was too young to go off and fight in wars. However, throughout human history it was common to train young males for battle. That being said, when an 18 year old joins the service he/she goes through a great deal of training and they are also guided by older professionals who have experience and training.

Personally I never cared for guns or the killing of any living thing. Sadly, human beings can be very violent and destructive.

I don't like to kill anything either. But if I had to protect someone from a deadly threat I would. I think you would to.

I don’t get why people without mental illness can get a weapon real easily, and people with mental illness cannot, while there are constantly shootings in America like this one. I think buying weapons should be much harder for everyone. In the Netherlands you just can’t have a gun and in the last 70 years there were only 30 people killed in shootings.

Hey there, Trace!

Fharraige posted the link to that article. I've used the article in some of my advocacy efforts.

I just wanted to make sure Fharraige gets due credit.


WC

Ughh! Some states are having knee-jerk reactions and are writing bills which scapegoat the mentally ill.

This does not help with school safety.
Nor does it help the mentally ill.
What are these lawmakers thinking? Some of them are just passing any measure, in order to make it look like they have done something. They need to be much more thoughtful when writing Bills and write ones that truly target the real problem(s).

It's very triggering to reside in areas where these types of Bills against the mentally ill are being passed.


WC

Yes, it happens everytime something horrible like this happens. Looks at 911, not one shot was fired. How many innocent people were killed? Need to ban jets? If someone has that evil intent they will find a way to carry it out, but leaving people unable to protect themselves is not the way to handle this.

Exactly.

And why target the mentally ill?
If we have a mental health issue, we are BAD people? We are likely to commit crimes hurting/killing masses of people, or any people?

If we seek help, we have a documented history of mental health issue(s) and our rights are taken away?

Many psychiatrists and NAMI speak out against this. Why don't lawmakers listen to the "experts," instead of running with, and further instigating, both fear and stigma of mental health consumers?

Are we supposed to feel bad about ourselves, sit back and say this is all "on target" and okay?

I don't think so.

We need more stigma, more shame, more discrimination?

Arrrrggghhh!

I have written a lot of "common-sense" letters to both state and federal lawmakers, hoping it would help the cause and help me from feeling so triggered. I still get upset though.

We have to stand up for ourselves, if we can do it, are up to it.

This is a loaded issue, no pun intended, and it's difficult to discuss the emotionally triggering aspects without discussing politics, because the politics are triggering in and of themselves.

Safety for All!


WC

If lawmakers want to target mental health, why don't they spend time/energy crafting/passing truly helpful Bills?

Here is NAMI's statement on this:

https://www.nami.org/About-NAMI/NAMI...-Trump-s-Recen

Come on, lawmakers, listen up, wake the heck up!


WC

I agree. Plus the more they yell about guns the higher the gun sales go. Guns kill no one. People kill people. Most people I know that have guns have never shot anyone. They have them but hope they never need them. But they do want to protect themselves and their family if the need should come up. The big problem is 1st people not teaching their kids respect and entitlement to do and say whatever they want. Bully parents raise bully kids. Plus the mental health care is not available for most people. Build more prisons for violent offenders and make them serve their time fully.
Just recently there was a suspicious person behind my house. I called the police and the person was an illegal, with two guns, one stolen. Why is a person walking around people's houses in the dark...with two handguns? Stopping by for tea? I don't think so.

Good article.

Yes it's triggering as hell. Every time their are shootings like this people love to point the finger at mental illness. When there should be more done in terms of gun reform. Both need to be addressed.

Media doesn't help. They paint a scary picture of those who have ptsd that they are dangerous. That is true like articles posted those who have mental illness are often the target of abuse and not the other way around. That kind of dialogue only fuels stigma.

I have a short story of how stigma like this really hurts innocent people and never connected this til just recently. This is about the last job I had. I worked for a daycare center cleaning. I had to disclose my disability to the daycare for special accommodations I needed and hrs i could work (for my ssdi) Moving forward I went in to pick up my check from the daycare as I usually did on Fridays when I got there they were on lock down. The staff through the door told me to come back another time. I left and went home and and learned of the shooting at Sandy Hook. Dec 14th 2012. That following Monday Dec 17th I called the daycare and asked if it was ok to pick up my check and I was told my check was mailed to me and I was fired. I had no issues with the staff and they were very happy with my work and really gave no explanation as to why I was let go. Looking back now I really believe I was let go because of disclosing my mental illness.

pardon me if i missed a post like mine... but i learned that people with a brain chemistry disorder are LESS likely to be violent than 'normal' people. maybe we are just feeling too helpless to hurt others ? also, as i did read, people who are 'different' in any way are most often the targets of truly violent and vicious people who are often considered 'socially high status' individuals (athletes, etc.)

also, it is common to label people who are violent as 'mentally ill', when actually they are acting appropriately in the context of their home, family and social experiences. as mentioned, we need more kindness and less condemnation if we want to be a more gentle society. punishing a violent person does NOT make them peaceful~! but tormenting a peaceful person can make them violent.

finally, let me just say that: violence is it's own special brand of illness, and should not be assumed to be associated with any other characteristic. prisons in america are the most horrendous 'violence producing machines' known, and should never be used to remedy maladaptive behaviors, but only to contain seemingly irredeemable individuals, in my opinion. the millions of dollars thus saved could be used to incalculable good for those who suffer from the lack of..... (you name it).

and , uh, there was no need to mention that the person in your backyard with 2 guns was "an illegal". he was a trespasser with 2 guns.

Especially in self defense

I having trouble finding employment because of mental illness in my family since the sandy hook shooting. I applied for job went to check the status and reapplied just in case my application was lost. I start filing it out before and was half way finish before finding the part in find print if you have a mental illness or have a family member who suffer from a mental illness don't bother filling out the application they have then right to have a person check for mental illness immediately fired or not hired. I understand why they are asking it just that I feel I am punish for someone else mistake.

It depends on how serious it is, if someone had adhd the yes they should be able to own a gun. However if they are hearing voices in their head telling them to do stuff then no way. See what I’m getting at? It depends on how severe the mental illness is!

There are a couple of posts that were removed from this thread, which I’m glad are gone. However, the discussion about the removed posts are still up on another thread. I’m only noting this because people will surely look here and not understand the fuss.