And... about gun control

 

I have willingly tried to avoid this subject because I don't like to be branded as a Democrat or a Republican. However, as we read the news, we see yet another shooting, and more victims  because a sick young man/woman went so long under the radar that his or her actions became imminent.
I could give you one example, a young man standing next to a pharmacy where I go to pick up our prescription is standing there, in dirty clothes, talking to himself while everybody passes him by. Until someone who understands his illness will try to make a call to the authorities. This is when one hears on the other side of the conversation: he isn't a danger to himself or others at this time.

A very typical answer.

So, when do we really interfere? As I learned later on, this young man was living with an older grandmother, didn't have any money or insurance to buy his medication and was left alone, struggling with an illness that doesn't disappear from one day to the next, but increases in intensity if not treated.
Yes, we can ban weapons from the public. Anyway, who needs weapons when you have the police, the military and the swat teams?

But... if we outlawed weapons from the general public, isn't it like banning food from someone who's trying to go on a diet? Or alcohol from someone who is trying to stop his drinking? or drugs from someone who's trying to kick his drug habit? If that person is determined to change his ways and stop his addiction, this person will succeed. Unfortunately, banning weapons from someone who is determined to use them is a moot point.

Black markets, online stores have made selling weapons easy to a person  without a license.

So where is the solution? 
Education. Educating first responders as well as educating people who sell guns for profit is a must and an obligation. I also believe that black markets selling guns to people without a license or a suspended license  should be accountable for selling weapons and also they should be liable and held responsible not only for selling them illegally, but also for the aftermath and the possible violent result of their sales.

 

Dismissing a parent's call to the authorities when the mother or father takes their courage in both hands to dial 911. Which by the way,isn't easy in any way to do... It is at least one of the hardest most difficult tasks a parent will face during his lifetime.
I read many reports of parents, friends, and family asking authorities for help, which was simply turned down, and few days later we read, and hear on the news that something horrible has happened.  That "Something" that could have been  averted. 
We teach our children a lot while they are growing up. Nevertheless, we never educate them on mental illness, although it is all around us.

Unfortunately, from our schools to our daily lives mental illness is still the white elephant in the room.

 Isn't it time we educate ourselves a bit more instead of putting on blinders?
I faced that problem once when I called the authorities a long time ago because I felt  my son was becoming violent. They tried to turn me down. However, I was prepared through research for such a response.  I, immediately contacted my son's psychiatrist for assistance.He talked them through the steps to take in this particular instance.  We both explained  that hospitalization was the beginning of an urgent therapy to save him  from his delusional thoughts. I got  lucky because they agreed to take him to the hospital that day.

Unfortunately, how many parents could say that? And how could we make education and treatment more available to everyone so help isn't so hard to find, and catastrophes like the ones we read about more preventable?

Simply by making treatment and education a necessary must, and not a choice.