How do I begin to explain the world today? It’s funny, when I consider how advanced American society is, yet at the same time fail to recognize some of our real problems. For example, in the past 15 years, we’ve experienced a rise in the number of mass shootings and gun violence in the United States. From the murders at Fort Hood in 2009, to the tragic murders of 20 school aged children and six adults at Sandy Hook….in the period from 2007-2013, the FBI has documented 16.4 incidents per year. When I ask why this has happened, my first response is we need more gun laws, a unilateral ban on firearms across the United States. Once this is accomplished, then society should look at the rates of gun ownership among the mentally ill – although not an unstable individual committed every shooting. Some acts of violence have been committed by people who simply hated the United States. Yet we scapegoat others who are different, looking for someone to blame. I asked an individual once if I placed a firearm in front of them - would it fire? Would it hurt you? And the answer, of course, is No….it
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New York State pass this bill in record time, with no hearings, testimony, or opponents. The point of this bill was to make the public focus on what was call to prevent “criminals and the dangerously mentally ill” from owning firearms in New York. Under the provisions of the SAFE Act, anyone with a mental health problem is reported to the state. Not every person with a psychiatric problem is going to shoot up Walmart, so why do we have to punish everyone? I am not going to sit here and say that there is not a correlation between psychiatric issues and engaging in violent behavior – but in good conscience I cannot suggest that every person with a psychiatric issue will eventually go on a killing spree. Even thought that there is a connection between mentally unstable people and
New York State pass this bill in record time, with no hearings, testimony, or opponents. The point of this bill was to make the public focus on what was call to prevent “criminals and the dangerously mentally ill” from owning firearms in New York. Under the provisions of the SAFE Act, anyone with a mental health problem is reported to the state. Not every person with a psychiatric problem is going to shoot up Walmart, so why do we have to punish everyone? I am not going to sit here and say that there is not a correlation between psychiatric issues and engaging in violent behavior – but in good conscience I cannot suggest that every person with a psychiatric issue will eventually go on a killing spree. Even thought that there is a connection between mentally unstable people and