First things first: heal our minds
By Brenda Henning
Southeast New Mexico and West Texas are sections of the country where big game hunting and gun shooting competitions are popular and threatening to take away people's gun rights can come close to inducing armed marches to Washington, D.C. Some people wear their concealed gun rights in the same way people wear clean underwear: they don't leave home without them.
But for all of the rhetoric these gun advocates espouse, in no recent incident have any of them ridden up on their white horses to save children and school teachers or to kill the madmen. Typically, the madman does the job himself with the very gun he brought to the killing spree.
In chronological symmetry to the events in Connecticut was the mentally deranged Chinese man in Hunan Province, China, who stabbed and injured 22 children and one adult outside a primary school. Seven of those students were admitted to the hospital but none of them were seriously injured.
These are two similar Post Traumatic Stress Disorder inducing events with one critical difference. All of the people in the violent rampage in China survived and in Connecticut 20 children are dead.
Perhaps the issue isn't so much that of prohibiting gun use as it is regulating gun access. In China, where they enforce some of the strictest laws in the world, private possession is not allowed but access is provided through hunting and gun range associations so those with an interest in guns as a hobby can still indulge. Mexico, too, has strong gun control regulation for private citizens but their efforts have been thwarted because criminals freely obtain guns through the United States.
The rights of gun ownership may never be fully and satisfactorily addressed for people on either side of the opinion. But the common thread that can be addressed and seems to be mutually agreed upon by Democrats, Republicans, and Independents is that spree killers suffer from some form of mental illness. Some gun control proponents may point to China as a model for gun control, but it's not likely they will point to this same country as a model for mental health services. Americans can continue to debate constitutional rights of gun ownership but the noise of this debate should not drown out the need to immediately address the breaking hearts of people who are in someway impacted by mental illness. To do so will only lead to more of the same tragedy.
The political will of the country can be rallied around this issue because increasing access to mental health services will make this a mentally healthier country overall. As was demonstrated again this week, the mentally ill do not always seclude themselves in a dark cave. Sometimes they take their mental anguish and anger and spread it to everyone within range.
Brenda Henning is a freelance writer and completing her master's in mental health counseling.
Southeast New Mexico and West Texas are sections of the country where big game hunting and gun shooting competitions are popular and threatening to take away people's gun rights can come close to inducing armed marches to Washington, D.C. Some people wear their concealed gun rights in the same way people wear clean underwear: they don't leave home without them.
But for all of the rhetoric these gun advocates espouse, in no recent incident have any of them ridden up on their white horses to save children and school teachers or to kill the madmen. Typically, the madman does the job himself with the very gun he brought to the killing spree.
In chronological symmetry to the events in Connecticut was the mentally deranged Chinese man in Hunan Province, China, who stabbed and injured 22 children and one adult outside a primary school. Seven of those students were admitted to the hospital but none of them were seriously injured.
These are two similar Post Traumatic Stress Disorder inducing events with one critical difference. All of the people in the violent rampage in China survived and in Connecticut 20 children are dead.
The rights of gun ownership may never be fully and satisfactorily addressed for people on either side of the opinion. But the common thread that can be addressed and seems to be mutually agreed upon by Democrats, Republicans, and Independents is that spree killers suffer from some form of mental illness. Some gun control proponents may point to China as a model for gun control, but it's not likely they will point to this same country as a model for mental health services. Americans can continue to debate constitutional rights of gun ownership but the noise of this debate should not drown out the need to immediately address the breaking hearts of people who are in someway impacted by mental illness. To do so will only lead to more of the same tragedy.
The political will of the country can be rallied around this issue because increasing access to mental health services will make this a mentally healthier country overall. As was demonstrated again this week, the mentally ill do not always seclude themselves in a dark cave. Sometimes they take their mental anguish and anger and spread it to everyone within range.
Brenda Henning is a freelance writer and completing her master's in mental health counseling.
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