LogFAQs > #965283045

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


The thing is, people don't wake up one morning and decide to be mass murderers. As much as those around them will insist that they never saw it coming, there are almost always warning signs of mental illness long before any significant violence happens, usually starting when the shooter is in school. Pick up on those and start treating it early, and you dramatically reduce the chance of them causing harm.

Plus, of course, sensible gun control would include a psychiatric evaluation before allowing somebody to purchase a gun (and requirements for approved gun owners to keep their guns appropriately secured to prevent unauthorized access). Would that capture every potential murderer? No. But it'd be a whole lot better than the "'There's nothing we can do to stop this' says only nation where this happens with any frequency" approach that's been doing so wonderfully to date.

Monopoman posted...

So yeah slapping that label on every shooter is a bit odd.

It's sort of a "small m" kind of mental illness. There may not be a formal, definitive diagnosis, but mentally healthy people don't commit murder, let alone mass murder. That is an aberrant, disordered behaviour, so it is an issue that needs to be approached in terms of mental health.