Quote:
Originally Posted by billethkid
the original thread had to do with whether there should be some sort of mental background check. And after a lot of pages of a lot about other subjects the answer to the original question is still a loud and clear NO!
How could there ever be a determination of what is the right level of wacko-ness or non standard behavior or not acting like we thinone should act.
Enforcement IMPOSSIBLE!!!!! Take a real simple one that is very measurable....the speed limit. They can cite you (or not) because they have a standard (the speed limit). Over it = bad under it = OK.
And if......IF....cited the fines are fairly stiff....as they should be.
So they have a standard. Do we still have speeding? Of course. How could that be possible....we have a law that states how fast we are allowed to go, don't we?
The missing ingredient is ENFORCEMENT. We all know if the cops aren't there we speed.
Now that you have my example just how do some of you think a mental state check could be made?
The single biggest problem in the realm of gun control is the existing laws are not ENFORCED.
Enforcement goes against the current permissive direction our society has taken.
Talk is cheap. Enforcement is not!!
|
I do not think there is any quick test like that for blood alcohol content for whether or not someone will ACT on mental illness in a violent way. It is a whole lot more than just talking crazy. People watching out for other people is part of a solution to this though. If your neighbor is doing something that looks like it might lead to violence against himself or to others we should certainly call the police. My neighbor David N. in Reno, Nevada shot himself in the head mainly because he felt no one loved nor understood him. At least, that was in the note as I remember it. He was developmentally challenged and I believe some people made fun of him. He was probably about 25 when he killed himself. I was around 13 or 14. We did not know what to do to help David N. He lived with his parents and probably would have remained with them for a long time. The neighbor next to him also in Reno, NV a few years before that hung himself due to gambling debts he could not pay back. Not much could have been done for him except maybe if he had moved out of a gambling mecca like Reno, NV.