This obviously does not work. I contend it does not work for some very basic reasons that are rooted in Christianity and the US Constitution. First, the database and many laws violate a strict textual interpretation of the 2nd Amendment - that pesky "shall not infringe" clause. Bottom line, if you are not in prison you should have all your constitutional rights - that includes the right to defend yourself. Laws that strip people of their rights in anticipation of a crime (restraining orders) are hideously unconstitutional. Anyone that has actually committed a crime should be found guilty and do the appropriate time to insure they do not commit another crime. As for the mentally ill, they have rights too, including defending themselves. They have not yet committed crimes and should not lose their rights. The mentally ill are not even likely to commit a violent crime, particularly with a weapon.
Second, as a Christian I believe in repentance and redemption. This goes to that old, but now seldom heard phrase, "paying your debt to society". That involves prison, but after a prisoner really pays his debt to society, he gets a second chance to being a full citizen with all rights and priveledges. That literally allows a person to be a productive member of society and reduces reoffending. Sentences for criminals need to insure the vast majority will never reoffend. Read that as longer and harsher. It also important to insure those that are released after paying their debt to society is that they are able to fully integrate in society. This isn't some kind of leftist philosophy filled with useless government programs. It means recognizing that we are all sinners and deserve a second chance. We ultimately get that second chance by taking Jesus Christ as our savior, but Christ wants us to give second chances hear on earth, as we are all sinners. I need only point to the Lord's pray as exhibit #1 - forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
There is amazing power in forgiveness for both the person who forgives and the person who is forgiven.
As for the mentally ill, they have rights too, including defending themselves. They have not yet committed crimes and should not lose their rights. The mentally ill are not even likely to commit a violent crime, particularly with a weapon.
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True, but there is now no way to treat the mentally ill as such. And they cannot be required to keep taking their meds; that is cruel.
So, if they are ‘acting up’, they are charged with crimes to get them behind bars, initially for treatment to become competent for trial, and then a sentence to answer for their crime. And then while incarcerated, they often do not have to take their meds. So the cycle repeats, and worsens.
And they have to be charged with a felony. Otherwise they cannot be held. Felonies such as ‘terrorist threats’, resisting arrest, or resisting an executive officer (a Civil War era law) gets them locked up, misdemeanors do not work for this. These felonies are often arbitrarily interpreted and applied.
The mental person often just needs a ‘time out’. A facility where he is held, perhaps medicated, gets sober, etc. Then let back out with no criminal charges. But we don’t have these. I think they would help.
“That literally allows a person to be a productive member of society and reduces reoffending.”
Not sure on this. Evidence seems to prove differently as the Orange County sheriff’s department is finding adversely. And they are openly saying the effort was not successful especially with the ridiculous protection efforts of illegals in California.
“According to data recently released from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, in the two years since the implementation of California’s State Bill 54 (SB54), the sheriff’s department has rearrested more than 400 of those they released on whom ICE had active detainers. The aliens who were rearrested include those with charges including: rape, assault with a deadly weapon, child sex offenses, domestic violence, identify theft, and driving under the influence.”
That equates to almost 3 in every 10 people released are re-arrested and many of them for violent crimes. And according to the CDC, California has the highest number of gun deaths in the US.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/firearm_mortality/firearm.htm
Whereas I don’t disagree with your inference of Christian and Constitutional efforts, and as much as it would be that easy, it will never work as long as there is evil in the world. And the evil at this time has reached the point of people, maybe closer to animal, who would rather give up their lives than conform to the peaceful existence religion and our government documents talk about. Plus, the California government is so busy trying to track weapons legally being sold that they are not getting the work done for those illegally crossing the border and getting into the hand of those evil people that have destined themselves to lead a life of crime rather than peace. And I believe that the loss of 3 of every 10 people that are confronted by a repeat offender is too high a price to pay for the state doing nothing more than adding to the highest number of gun laws in any state being basically applied to responsible people and not the criminals.
Your intent is great. But your results are outnumbered by those that don’t prescribe to the peaceful existence.
wy69
The mentally ill are not even likely to commit a violent crime, particularly with a weapon.
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This is absurd.
There is a hard, fast rule in hypnosis. A hypnotist can’t cause a subject to commit a violent act which the subject would not commit while not under hypnosis. There are any number of cases where hypnotists proved this rule to be false. They do it by planting the suggestion that the target of the suggested attack is a threat to the subject. The suggestion overcomes the subject’s moral compunctions against committing an immoral act by injecting the perception that the act is actually self defense.
And so it is with paranoid schizophrenics. Schizophrenics are not the “funny” harmless people depicted by modern media. They twist every human interaction into being a threat against them personally. In their minds everyone is out to get them. If they respond, then they think, it’s only self defense.
There are any number of internet sites which apologize for the propensity of schizophrenics to be more violent. Statistics say that crazy people are at least 3 times as likely to commit crimes, especially violent crimes. The only thing protecting society from more massive harm is the inherent disability caused by schizophrenia. Place firearms in easy reach of diagnosed or adjudicated schizophrenics is an invitation to injury and death.