[seeker1950]

I know the young man who committed the atrocities in Conn is surely mentally ill, but I'm really thinking it's time to stop molly-coddling murderers. As I've said before on this forum, I'm a pacifist, a liberal, and I abhor violence. I have also opposed the death penalty.
But I'm thinking the only real deterrant to future mass killings will be the example of no mercy to the killer.

[Open Eyes]

Well, the problem is they pretty much kill themselves after they commit these hanis acts, so how can we show the "no mercy"? And we dont know all the facts behind this man either, so it is hard to know how to respond or what to think.

Last I heard was that he found out his mother was planning on commiting him. And it was also said that she "donated" her time at the school to work with these children.
So that would be why she was not in any teaching or employment records.

There are so many different stories out now that it is hard to know what is true and what is just more false information.

Also I watched Dr Phil talk about this and he said that people don't "just snap" like this, they plan it in advance. And he also talked about early warning signs that are missed where intervention is possible. Well, I can believe that. The reality is if you have a challenged child and no money, you are in big trouble. Parents don't know what to do with their troubled children sometimes, they genuinely struggle.

I feel that we are not focusing on how to look for early warning signs and it leads to some of these troubled children getting to an age where they take it out on society somehow.

The problem is, we don't have all the facts yet. And we don't quite have enough knowledge to always know what to look for and find ways to address it. We "do" have to learn to pay attention to those that struggle more so this hatred doesn't keep building up as well. Some children that genuinely struggle are often poorly addressed by others.

Open Eyes

[seeker1950]

I agree with much of what you've said, Open. And, it is true, many of these mass killers either commit suicide or are taken out at the scene of their crimes.
Regarding the family, they don't appear to have been "without money." The picture of the house in which the mother and son lived was more like an exclusive estate, it doesn't appear money would have been an issue.
I also have concerns about the mother and her love of guns. She had these assault weapons in the house, knowing she had a very sick young man in her charge.

[Yoda]

I support longer jail sentences for violent crimes.

But what I would really like to see in place is screening for mental illness among teenagers and young adults, the age when MI often develops. And we need access for treatment for those with mental illness and affordable medication.

My 23 y/o son has no income, no benefits and it is a struggle on my disability income to afford what he needs. His adderall xr generic costs $300/month and we can't afford it so he is not on meds and has no hs diploma, no job and no prospects of being able to function at a job. The free care program for mental illnesses in our area has a RN whose master's degree is in diabetes and she is not competent to treat complex mental illness.

[Open Eyes]

Originally Posted by seeker1950

I agree with much of what you've said, Open. And, it is true, many of these mass killers either commit suicide or are taken out at the scene of their crimes.
Regarding the family, they don't appear to have been "without money." The picture of the house in which the mother and son lived was more like an exclusive estate, it doesn't appear money would have been an issue.
I also have concerns about the mother and her love of guns. She had these assault weapons in the house, knowing she had a very sick young man in her charge.

Yes, if this mother knew her son was so distrubed and truely did want him commited, she should not have had guns in the home.

I just happened across Dr Phil talking about these troubled children, I don't really watch Dr Phil, but I just happened to be surfing channels and came across his discussion on this incident. And he did have parents on his program that said they have sons that they feel can be violent like this. And they also had guns in the home as well. And Dr Phil made it a point to tell these parents that even guns locked up are a problem and to get the guns out of the home. I agree with that opinion myself.

I understand what you are saying about this woman's home and her wealth as well. Which makes me wonder what is available even if someone does have money. It sounds like she might have noticed he was getting worse, and he was an "adult" so from what I understand she was trying to get a conservatureship to have him committed.

You say "we should show no mercy" but I think we are already doing that and that is the problem. What "help" is really out there?

Look at what Yoda is saying, she has no mercy for her situation.

I happened to hear a clip where Obama said we need to make Mental Health care as accessable as guns, well, that is a step in the right direction IMO. I am glad they are not just continuing this "evil" talk.

At least Dr Phil talked about the fact that most mentally ill people would never do something like this.

Open Eyes

[-jimi-]

Revenge doesn't help anything. Dangerous people need to be separated out so they can't hurt others BUT if we treat them inhumane we're the same bad.

Like it or not.

It's not coddling.

And they can if they mature and live, later in life help explaining and teach about things we don't know about those people's minds. Should we throw knowledge away???

[Maven]

I wrote a longer comment about this on the PsychCentral newsletter article in the newsletter, but it's still awaiting moderation. The article is here, though: http://blogs.psychcentral.com/depres...at-never-ends/. I replied specifically to "bk" in the comments section.

I agree, we need better mental health help. However, I oppose preventing the ownership of a gun simply on the basis that a person is mentally ill. Most mentally ill people are not violent. We are Americans, too, entitled to our right to protect ourselves. I think, if a person wants to buy a gun (mentally ill or not), they can only do so if they have shown themselves not to have committed violent acts, being repeatedly aggressive, or has seriously threatened physical harm to someone.

Whatever you might think of guns, you shouldn't be for discriminating against a group that is usually non-violent. If we're going to disallow them, it should be for everyone, not just a specific group that some people think might commit a crime. There are lots of things I've thought people might do, but that doesn't give me the right to impose my will upon them.

That said, I don't think banning guns is the answer. The guns are already out there. If we tell people they can't buy a gun to protect themselves, then only the bad people will have the guns, and the good people will be at their mercy.