There’s only one part of Gov. Malloy’s proposal about gun legislation that almost makes sense.
The Sandy Hook Advisory Commission begins with the statement, “While issues related to mental illness and behavioral health are complicated, it is clear that keeping guns out of the hands of those whose behaviors indicate that they pose a risk to themselves or others is essential to protecting public safety.”
I don’t want to go any further or mention any of the other issues brought up in the proposal because this is the only one that needs to be addressed. Proposing more gun laws isn’t going to solve the problem. The bottom line is that a gun cannot shoot itself. Guns cannot kill unless there’s someone to pull the trigger. End of story.
What we need is a collaboration of professionals to look at behavior issues and possible mental illness. If you want to talk about mandatory reporting, how about teachers talking to each other if they feel they have a student with a behavior or mental issue. See if the student displays antisocial behavior in other classes. Then take that to a person in the guidance office who can talk to the student and decide if mandatory reporting is warranted.
Now, bear with me because I’m about to make a statement that will upset people. Yes, Adam Lanza shot his way into the school after killing his mother. But I wonder if he didn’t have access to the weapons that his mother bought legally and taught him to use, he could have spent an hour at the library or 10 minutes on the Internet and he could have built a bomb. So, instead of killing 21 children, he could have blown up the school and killed every single child in that building.
The guns didn’t kill anyone. He did.
The problem with dragging the skeleton out of the closet (mental health issues) is that it would cost the state money rather than make money for Malloy and lose jobs for those of us who work for the gun manufacturers. The state would have to reopen mental health clinics and institutions and staff them. They might actually have to help the homeless (of which many suffer from mental illness and have nowhere to go except the streets) as well as those who’ve gone undetected.
Sorry, it’s easier to add more gun laws and put people out of jobs and add all new kinds of licensing and taxes to make money for the state than to spend money doing something that might actually make a difference.
A person who’s determined to kill is like a person who’s determined to commit suicide. You can take away the gun, but they’ll just find another way to accomplish their goal. I say it’s time we stop adding duct tape to the dike that’s already collapsed and try building a new wall in order to stop the flood that’s already affecting us all.
Bonnee Pierson
Northford