First, who could oppose making security at our schools extremely modern, manned, and hardened? If we can make a military encampment in Afghan safe, we can make a school safe. WHY has this not already been done???
Next, we need to reverse legislation that makes committal to an insane asylum a near impossible thing. It was common in my youth, but then the libs decided that wackos on the streetcorners was a good thing.
Finally, there needs to be an actual vetting system for threats. Call it threat "triage". If a call like this one comes in, then it MUST go through vetting. Period. And that person must be in danger of being committed.
I agree with what you wrote, but my agreement comes with a word of caution.
There are numerous locales and states in our country where me and you would be viewed as a “deplorable clinging to our guns and religion.” If “they” all agree that my comment and yours are not politically correct and in opposition to their values, what if they have the power to detain us for evaluation and possibly re-education?
While you and I see differences in our statements (a matter of heartfelt thoughts based on our historically acceptable values) with homicidal rantings of a madman, some of them do not.
Trust me - I wish our mental health system was more pro-active and I wish law enforcement had more tools today like I had when I first started long ago - drive them to the hospital and have them evaluated by a professional mental health counselor, but that is a difficult process even when a person is having an obvious mental episode in that moment. It is far more difficult based on social media posting and the rants of a teenager. While I think there are instances where an obsession with firearms might be an indicator in the presence of other factors, there are many on television and in congress right now who believe a big gun collection is evidence of mental illness absent any other factors.
I want to find the answers just as you do, but I also view it with a healthy sense of caution because we cannot prevent every evil in society and our natural reflex of empowering the government comes with unintended consequences.
I think we can all agree that our nation needs a more proactive mental health system, but we also likely agree that the answer in 99 out of 100 cases seems to be “put them on pills and hope for the best.” This comes with unintended consequences also for children and teenagers, but that is a topic for another day and I have to go to work.
FRegards
I don’t oppose steps to prevent or minimize such horrific acts as I wrote in an earlier post on another thread. However, “hardening” a target is not a perfect answer and it is very expensive - money that most school districts do not have. Finding alternative means of doing this such as qualified volunteers may have merit, but that may not be available in all jurisdictions either and also comes with risks.
I agree with you on the “triage” necessity. However, I am telling you from the inside (LE) that cops, the FBI, schools, nor mental health have the necessary tools or authority to simply incarcerate and fix every broken egg that crosses the pan. Giving them that authority does not guarantee success and it comes with risks to individual freedom that might be subject to abuse.
“Next, we need to reverse legislation that makes committal to an insane asylum a near impossible thing. It was common in my youth, but then the libs decided that wackos on the streetcorners was a good thing.”
And then, make it impossible for health insurance bean counters to refuse to pay for up to 3 days of hospitalization.
That’s the major problem.