As I've written several times before, kids used to bring their guns to school all the time. Most schools in the 40's and 50's - and many schools all the way until the 70's, had gun clubs. Kids brought their weapons to school on the bus, placed them in lockers, and went to the range after school. There were virtually no shootings.
With a few, now-rare, exceptions, the practice of school-sponsored gun clubs ended in the 80's. There are examples out there of places where it still exists, but you have to look pretty hard to find them. Guns are forbidden in 99% of America's schools, and yet the number of mass shootings still seems to be climbing.
So, I argue, something else has changed. It's not guns. It's a host of other issues congealing into one unspeakable horror. A general lack of respect and morality certainly comes into play here, but chief among our current problems is our dismal - almost non-existent - mental health system.
It's a problem that began just over 50 years ago with President John F. Kennedy:
Fifty years ago, when President John F. Kennedy signed the Community Mental Health Act into law, the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of men, women and children in Massachusetts and across America was stunted and grim. For the most part, daily life was a gray tableau behind locked institutional doors, marked by inadequate treatment, primitive medications and isolation from family, friends and the community.
Patients in locked facilities were subject to retaliation if they complained about conditions. Family members were frequently discouraged from inquiring about care. Massachusetts and other states operated a patchwork of in-patient state hospitals that served as little more than systemic quarantine facilities.
In the final bill he signed into law before his death, President Kennedy called for society to embrace a new vision for people with mental health disorders and developmental disabilities, one in which the “cold mercy of custodial care would be replaced by the open warmth of community.”
In true Washington fashion, the more admiral parts of Kennedy's plan never came to pass, and the worst parts were implemented almost immediately
In true Washington fashion, the more admiral parts of Kennedy's plan never came to pass, and the worst parts were implemented almost immediately.
After that, White Houses, Congresses, and state legislatures - of both political persuasions - continued to make mistakes. Budgets were slashed, so state hospitals and initiatives were eliminated along with their federal counterparts. Eventually, mental illness was "de-stigmatized" to the point where we decided a bottle of pills and a warm hug would solve all but the most extreme cases. It was easier to write a prescription than deal with a few very harsh questions about people's ability to function in society.
.... And we all need to admit it didn't work.
Earlier today, I discussed the fact that people like the Pulse Nightclub shooter, the Boston bombers, The Sandy Hook shooter, and the perpetrator of yesterday's Florida attack were all known quantities. Time and time again, we find out that while the authorities knew there was a problem, nothing was done to avert their despicable atrocities. Inevitably, someone asks the question "well, what can we do?"
As I mentioned, I have some sympathy for that argument. There's not much they can do - other than watch.
One can certainly argue that FBI agents who have time to send 50,000 txt messages about overthrowing Trump should certainly have more time to do the actual watching but, in the end, it’s awfully hard to prevent these attacks. Under our current laws, the tools simply don't exist. If you identify someone who's mentally ill - to the point of being a genuine threat - it's very tough to do anything about it. That is, until after they've done what you suspected they'd try to do.
That has to change.
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Since we don't want to gut the 2nd Amendment or eliminate due process, we have to re-think the way we look at treating the unstable.
I'm not arguing we go back to the horror-movie version of mental hospitals that existed in the pre-1960's world. No one wants to see an antiquated, torturous, system re-instated. However, I am suggesting that we'd see a lot less "known gunmen" if there was a system in place that took threats off the streets before they lashed out.
Republicans won't like this stance and will complain about 2nd Amendment and due process violations. Democrats won't like this because they won't want one of their protected groups to be "stigmatized," and because they've gotten good at using gun control as a wedge issue.
Both sides are going to have to budge if we're actually going to solve this. Gun control alone won't do it. Nor will catering to the NRA.
If we genuinely want to solve the underlying problem - and I'm not sure all of us really do - Dems are going to have to stop scapegoating inanimate objects and Republicans are going to have to stop pretending firearms in the hands of the mentally ill isn't a problem.
We can't ban our way to safety. As improvised attacks all over the world have shown; whatever it might be, there will always be another available weapon. Since we don't want to gut the 2nd Amendment or eliminate due process, we have to re-think the way we look at treating the unstable.
As I've written several times before, kids used to bring their guns to school all the time. Most schools in the 40's and 50's - and many schools all the way until the 70's, had gun clubs. Kids brought their weapons to school on the bus, placed them in lockers, and went to the range after school. There were virtually no shootings.
With a few, now-rare, exceptions, the practice of school-sponsored gun clubs ended in the 80's. There are examples out there of places where it still exists, but you have to look pretty hard to find them. Guns are forbidden in 99% of America's schools, and yet the number of mass shootings still seems to be climbing.
