Today another school shooting happened. This time in Houston, TX. What is known at this time is that 8-10 individuals, mostly students, were fatally wounded by a shooter in Santa Fe High School. Several others were injured and the shooter was taken into custody.
I recorded a special podcast talking about a sensitive topic that comes up every time there is a mass shooting, the mentally ill and firearms. I am a proud veteran and owner of firearms and I have a mental illness. So, I have skin in this. While this, and every school and public shooting is a tragedy, we cannot fall victim to mass hysteria concerning the mentally ill.
Most often being talked about is removing access to firearms to those with mental illness. I question how far do we go with this. Are they suggesting all people with mental illness should be stripped of their constitutional rights without due process? Politicians and reporters are, by their very statements, lumping all people with mental illness together with a very small fraction of our population.
Yes, those who pose a clear danger to themselves and/or others must be removed from access to a firearm. But that person must have due process and their day in court if such an action must be taken. We cannot allow the actions of a few dictate our rights being forfeited because of the ignorance of our elected officials who know nothing about mental illness.
Prevention is what everyone wants. Preventing the next school shooting, nightclub shooting, or mass shooting is what we all want without question. But we must also be mindful of the lives that are about to be further destroyed by the callous actions people in public office.
Part of prevention is reporting. If you are actively, or passively, suicidal and/or homicidal it is your responsibility above anyone else to self-report to your doctor or psychologist. If you know someone who possibly may hurt themselves or others, you must take it upon yourself to tell somebody. If you don’t know who to tell, call 911. The safety of that individual and the public is paramount to any reservations you may have to reporting a loved one.
I discuss this further in my podcast.
The Bipolar DM 