Comments on: Armed And Dangerous

Law Bans Sale Of Firearms To People With A History Of Severe Mental Illness

[iceman_1960]

"It is estimated that every year in the U.S., 1,000 homicides are committed by people with mental illness."

The irony....

Does anyone know how many are committed by all the SANE and MENTALLY BALANCED people every year ?

[psychgradnc]

I am disgusted and disappointed by this story; the one-sided antics of Kroft are a shame to journalistic principles. Was research done before this story aired? Studies have found that gender, socio-economic status, and addiction to drugs/alcohol are stronger predictors of violence than a mental illness. This ignorant and inaccurate report is just one example of the media stereotyping the mentally ill and adding to the already pervasive stigma which surrounds the entire mental health field. What happened at Virginia Tech was a tragedy, but we should not add to the horrors of that day by victimizing a group of people already disenfranchised and oppressed by our culture. People do not choose to have a mental illness any more than they would choose to have cancer. Instead of pointing fingers and playing the infamous %u2018blame-game,%u2019 we should be looking at the real problem. People who should be receiving are left to fare without the necessary medications and care they need because mental health professionals are forced to struggle with limited resources and meager funds thanks to over-eager budget cuts by state and federal officials.
Rather than automatically revoking the constitutional rights of the mentally ill, why don%u2019t we ban the sales of guns to those who research shows are likely to commit violence. Sorry, males from a low socio-economic class addicted to drugs or alcohol, no guns for you!

[feelfree1]

Re: "Law Bans Sale Of Firearms To People With A History Of Severe Mental Illness"

Will this have any bearing on whether or not the Bush-puppet will be able to keep Saddam's pistol?

[dudleyc2]

Approximately 1000 persons per year in the USA are killed accidentally by electricity. Should we ban electrical power? Or at least forbid persons with a tendency for accidents to have it in their homes or to work around it?
There must be a better way. If we were smarter in this country, we could come up with something.

[vanareb]

This article is way off point. It appears to indicate that laws were ignored or violated. That is misleading reporting. Under the law. The information on the V T gunman would not be reported to the Federal Govt. and if it had been reported the information would not have been in the database for any reason.

BECAUSE
27 CFR Ch. II Subpart B Definitions:
Committed to a mental institution. A
formal commitment of a person to a
mental institution by a court, board,
commission, or other lawful authority.
The term includes a commitment to a
mental institution involuntarily. The
term includes commitment for mental
defectiveness or mental illness. It also
includes commitments for other reasons,
such as for drug use. THE TERM DOES NOT INCLUDE A PERSON IN A MENTAL ISTITUTION FOR OBSERVATION OR A VOLUNTARY ADMISSION TO A MENTAL INSTITUTION. (emphasis added)

The emergency detention order for the gunman which has been published in the media would not fit the definition unless there was a subsequent hearing and finding any more than a felony arrest without a conviction would count against a potential purchaser.

[dudleyc2]

While the concept of forbidding gun ownership to mentally ill persons who do not know right from wrong sounds reasonable, isn't it true that the vast majority of killings in the USA are committed by people who do know it is wrong? Wouldn't it save more lives to forbid ownership by those who do know right from wrong as well?

[flyinstew]

I think someone should tell gun nut-Larry Pratt-and the other idiot-Michael Faenza-to go to all the funerals of all those who died at Virginia Tech. and explain to all the families of those killed their stupid ideas that they spew. Let them see the grief that their stupid ideas are predicating.