Aaron Alexis and the gun control mental health dodge

The chatter over tough, new, Must Have gun control regulations in the wake of the Washington shipyard shooting has been considerably more muted (though not absent) than in the periods following other recent tragedies of a similar nature. This is understandable on a number of counts, but one area where the clamoring of the righteous has still bubbled to the surface is found in the cries for reform when it comes to the mentally ill. Leaving aside for a moment the inconvenient fact that the shooter was never treated for any mental illness by the VA – contrary to early reporting – or the fact that he had no arrest record for unstable behavior, it’s an idea still gaining in popularity. And it’s a dangerous one which should be approached with caution for several reasons.

Better and more accessible care for the truly mentally ill is a worthwhile goal, and one which should be pursued. (And Kelly Ayotte already has a plan to do so without infringing anyone’s Second Amendment rights.) But we need to stand firm against any proposed federal legislation which purports to make everyone safer by keeping guns out of the hands of (or confiscating them from!!!) the mentally ill. That last sentence is sure to set the hair of many liberals afire, but there’s a reason for this sense of caution. You see, we already know where that path leads because we’ve seen the terminus of it in the state of New York, and it’s a nightmare.

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