Focus on mental health, not guns. Article by Amanda Stair-Duran from 2013

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"I am a Columbine library survivor. I openly wept for the kids of Newtown when the shooting occurred there.

I understand that people want to do something to keep tragedies such as that that occurred there and at my school from happening again. However, the bills that recently made their way through the Colorado Senate are not the way to go about it.

Limiting the number of rounds in a magazine is not going to do anything to deter potential shooters; it will only make them carry more magazines to do their dirty work. And most people in a situation such as mine are not going to logically think to wait to run away while the gunman is reloading, especially in a closed space. It would have been impossible in my case, as there were two gunmen, so the odds of them running out at the same time were slim to none at best, not to mention the fact that everyone around me was reacting in a typical human manner: staying out of sight as much as possible until the threat was gone. This includes myself.

Going after the weapon used in these mass murders is far too easy; anyone who is really wanting to kill will either find the means to get one illegally, or just use another weapon. It will do nothing to deter them if they really are that determined. What the real problem is is the dearth of mental health treatment that we have in this state, and in the country at large. I am not talking about just giving people pills and sending them on their way. I am talking about actual counseling, actual (if necessary) inpatient treatment if someone is obviously unstable or is having homicidal/suicidal thoughts. Parents of teens expressing these thoughts can’t just turn their backs and say that expressing such thoughts is a normal part of being a teenager, because it’s not. They need to focus on being their child’s parents first, rather than their friends.

I am aware of the stigma that surrounds the issue of mental health. I am aware of the costs of seeking mental health treatment. The frequency with which these shootings have occurred has brought this issue to the forefront and I believe we can no longer ignore it simply because it has that stigma attached, that people with head problems are “crazy.”

We need to restore mental health funding to pre-Reagan levels, and while I am not talking about reopening all of the institutions he closed during his term, I do believe we need to get funding up to the levels needed so that if people need help, they can get it right away instead of being put on a six-month waiting list (and who’s to say they won’t go “crazy” in that time?). We need to put priority on mental health not just to mitigate (“prevent” might be nigh impossible) mass shootings, but to help Iraq and other war veterans dealing with PTSD, and incidentally, help the victims of said shootings deal with their PTSD as well. Some kind of irony there.

It may have been fourteen years since the shooting at my school, but I promise you, if you knew what was going on in my head, you might very well call me “crazy” too. Such is the case with largely untreated PTSD. More irony.

Write your senators, and write Gov. Hickenlooper, and urge them to take their focus away from the tool, and focus on the handler of said tool. It’s not as quick and clean as regulating the tools, but in the end, I would rather have my money go toward treating some teen hell-bent on shooting everyone he sees than having it go towards his incarceration and his victims’ hospital bills."

                                                                                                                           By Amanda Stair-Duran- Columbine Survivor




This article is from 2013 by Amanda Stair-Duran, AKA [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] here on the forum.  

For those who don't know, Amanda is a Columbine survivor, she was in the library that day.  With the recent 19th anniversary now behind us, and the even more recent school shootings in Parkland, Santa Fe, plus the smaller ones in between that were failed attempts, this article brings back into sharp focus what is STILL being overlooked in all these tragedies.  

In every new school shooting/mass shooting/mass killing the focus almost always is on the weapon/gun etc. Usually with very little attention paid or given to the person's reasoning/mental state that carried out the crime. The weapons used are inanimate objects. Placing the blame on the weapon does almost nothing in preventing the next incident. It may make it harder, but doesn't end all possibilities of future attacks. Where there's a will there's a way.

The real issue should be trying to figure out why some people are so willing to pick up a gun, get in a vehicle, build a bomb, etc. and try to kill others. Why are some children growing up with so little respect for life in general that they think it's ok to kill?  Until we place the main focus on the minds of the youth that are growing up damaged, cruel, and so uncaring of their own lives and the lives of others this will only continue.  

Amanda's article is from 2013, shortly after Sandy Hook. How many shootings have we witnessed since 1999, since 2013?  I can't help but think we are loosing so many innocent lives simply because no one wants to truly admit what the real problems are in this country.  

I agree wholeheartedly with Amanda. Her words rang true back then, and even truer today. The bell is getting louder and louder with each new tragedy. But when will people start opening their eyes and listening?

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

But when will people start opening their eyes and listening?

Only after they've tried the solutions which are guaranteed to fail.

QuestionMark wrote:

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

But when will people start opening their eyes and listening?

Only after they've tried the solutions which are guaranteed to fail.

Sad but true.

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

QuestionMark wrote:

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

But when will people start opening their eyes and listening?

Only after they've tried the solutions which are guaranteed to fail.

Sad but true.

They have an agenda they are pushing so hard.

Did you read where one of the Parkland survivors who lost his sister was/is set to be Valedictorian (Kyle I think his name is) and because he is pro second amendment

No one wants to hear it because they want to think all mental illness is a sad person looking out the window while it is raining like on the pamphlets, much like what Sue talks about what is in her book.

They want to talk about mean white men and not that fact that these are troubled kids who need help. They want to say "don't force people to be nice to them" while also saying "maybe if these losers got laid they wouldn't shoot up their school" putting the onus on the girls to open their legs.

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Sadly I feel this meme accurately describes how a lot of people think.

having a fantasy of killing people fueled by other people's behavior and current or reoccurring life situations and wanting to end their life is not a mental illness.

Those thoughts could have been fueled by mental illness.

There is a disconnect in someones pysche and someone is badly broken if they want to commit such an act.

Not all mentally ill people are the ones who just can't get out of bed or someone who has anxiety so they need a comfort dog...

It's not just the schizophrenic yelling on the corner but is harmless.

Sometimes they are angry and violent.

.

Dingus wrote:

JP wrote:

having a fantasy of killing people fueled by other people's behavior and current or reoccurring life situations and wanting to end their life is not a mental illness.

Unfortunately, mental illness is defined around what is beneficial to those who define it as opposed to a clear standard of wellness.

Very true. But I honestly don't think a clear standard of wellness actually exists. Almost everyone seems to have something going on that would be classified as a mental or behavioral defect/disorder nowadays.

I'm fine with discussing gun control, the problem is thats all we're discussing.

We could be doing allot more with respect to school shootings. We should be discussing other ways to make schools safer and how to get troubled kids the help they need.

all humans are mortal. they will die somehow. eventually. there will be no immortality. you gotta die sometime.

and those fuckin pig bastards

W.A.R. wrote:

I'm fine with discussing gun control, the problem is thats all we're discussing.

We could be doing allot more with respect to school shootings. We should be discussing other ways to make schools safer and how to get troubled kids the help they need.

100% agreed. Unfortunately these types of crimes are mainly looked at from one angle. With that angle more often then not being on what type of weapon was used, and how to outright ban it or restrict access to it. That is all well and good, as I do think we need better gun laws in this country. BUT this is only one tiny part of the much bigger problem.  

Do we have a gun problem in America? Yeah, I believe we do. Although I also believe that it pales in comparison to the untold number of kids struggling with mental/behavioral issues that are drowning in a sea of red flags right in front of us.

If only more people took this advice, I think some chose to be ignorant when it comes to guns.

Heyyy, someone remembered that column, cool!

Yumeko-chan wrote:

Heyyy, someone remembered that column, cool!

It was a very well written piece. Unfortunately the truth in your words fell on deaf ears.

I agree with most of what Yumeko-chan wrote. I think it was very brave of her to say guns are not the problem.

I just don't really agree on that point, at least in principle: "Limiting the number of rounds in a magazine is not going to do anything to deter potential shooters; it will only make them carry more magazines to do their dirty work."

It's true that it would not have changed anything at Columbine, but the great majority of shooters act alone. But anyway, too many magazines have already been built in the USA, you cannot destroy all those with too much rounds if the law changed. So it seems not possible to apply a new law in my opinion.

I am French and in France you cannot have guns except if you have a hunting permit or a sport shooting permit, so you cannot have one for defense for example. And I wish we could have guns too, but with a good law and magazines with a limited number of rounds, because I think it tells the difference between the wish to defend yourself and the wish to kill people. But we would start from scrap so it would be easier for us than for you.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] My uncle who lives in France was recently allowed to own a glock

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] dont do anything plz