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We have a very real national crisis of disillusioned young men who are increasingly alienated from society, overly connected to the internet, and full of anger. They are too easily pulled into extremism and too often turn to violence as an outlet.

We have a local, state, and national mental health infrastructure that is, to put it nicely, failing and falling apart. While many public shooters do not necessarily have a diagnosable mental illness, they’re rarely the epitome of mental stability. But it turns out that addressing this complicated, decades-long problem and ensuring people get help before they’re in crisis is difficult. It’s far easier, and more profitable, to lobby against a specific type of scary-looking gun.

We have too many states that make it difficult and expensive for peaceful citizens to exercise their unalienable right to self-defense, both in public and in their own homes. At the same time, government officials undermine the same police departments they ask us to wait on for assistance when confronted with imminent violent threats.

In Jacksonville, lives were saved by an armed campus security officer who approached and deterred the gunman before he could fire a single shot on university grounds. Meanwhile, Gun Control, Inc., rakes in money for mocking the idea of a “good guy with a gun” while failing to acknowledge the obvious: the faster a violent threat is confronted by armed resistance, the faster that threat ends and the fewer people die.

We deserve better than the current list of bumper-sticker solutions to the most surface-level and fringe aspects of violence.

Until we force ourselves to change the way we collectively approach mass public shootings, we will keep spinning in circles while people die.

— Amy Swearer in Stop the Bumper-Sticker ‘Solutions’ to Mass Shootings

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

73 COMMENTS

  1. “We have a very real national crisis of disillusioned young men who are increasingly alienated from society, overly connected to the internet, and full of anger. They are too easily pulled into extremism and too often turn to violence as an outlet.”

    The Fascist Left wants this. Badly. Why we see a problem, they see an opportunity to exploit for their sick and twisted means… 🙁

    • The “fascist left”? That phrase makes no sense. Fascism was/is a populist/right-wing political movement. When Nazis fought Bolsheviks, who was more right-wing?

      Making up dumb, non-sensical phrases like “fascist left” makes you feel good because the TV told you fascists were bad.

      Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement, characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation and race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.

      Frankly, it sounds awesome.

      Also- Hitler repealed gun-control laws for normal Germans. Gun control was imposed on the Central Powers by the Allies.

    • The “fascist left”? That phrase makes no sense. Fascism was/is a populist/right-wing political movement. When Nazis fought Bolsheviks, who was more right-wing?

      Making up dumb, non-sensical phrases like “fascist left” makes you feel good because the TV told you fascists were bad.

      Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement, characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation and race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.

      Frankly, it sounds awesome.

      Also- Hitler repealed gun-control laws for normal Germans. Gun control was imposed on the Central Powers by the Allies!

      • Words change with time.
        Gay used to mean happy, not a sexual preference.
        Faggot was a old English word for bundle.

        Based on words and actions taken by the far left, fascism applies to them. Even reading your definition, most of that applies to the left.

      • Fascism is only “far-right” if the spectrum of political beliefs is arbitrarily restricted to a certain subset.

        It goes a LOT farther out to the “right” than you think.

        • Publius, Pure unadulterated BULL SHIT. Fascism is a LEFTIST philosophy of economics. Need I remind you of that Italian Socialist, Giovanni Gentile who ghost wrote Mussolini’s Manifesto? The only reason you Lefties call fascism “right wing” is because your buddy, Adolf Hitler invaded your beloved Soviet Union betraying your Uncle Joe Stalin. But betrayal is symptomatic of socialism.

          The original Publius is turning over in his grave with your betrayal of the US Constitution. You have no shame.

        • So far it loops right back around.

          Disingenuous literalists are the worst kind of pointless assholes. Like two nerds arguing over cartoon caped men in tights.

          Left, right, up, down, black, white oppression and tyranny are oppression and tyranny. An external force imposing arbitrary restrictions on the parameters of my one and only life is going to piss me off whatever it calls itself.

      • Why do you Leftist/fascist idiots keep trying to push this OBVIOUS lie???? Are you that stupid, or are you laboring under the pathetic delusion that we are?? Inquiring minds want to know.

        Let us start our education session. What, in YOUR deluded, Leftist/fascist mind, is the definition of “fascism”? (Hint: Authoritarian use of centralized power to enforce government policies and mandates, with little or no ‘democratic’ input, but you do you. Fascism is NOT populist, clown.)

        Now let’s look at the ACTUAL PRACTICES of modern-day Leftist/fascism. Use of centralized power to enforce government policies and mandates???? COVIDiocy, anyone??? Mask mandates (masks, even N95 masks, are laughably ineffective against viruses), vaccine mandates (of untested vaccines, made using unique techniques never before used to manufacture publicly-available vaccines). Inflation, and all OTHER economic statistics?? How many times have the “official” definitions of “inflation” and “recession” and “GDP” and “money supply” been changed, BY THE GOVERNMENT, in YOUR lifetime?? (For mine, it is in the dozens, or more.).

        Government “authorities” dictating policies by changing definitions of words? Comparing “inflation” from the Carter Era to Senile Joe’s “inflation” isn’t even comparing apples to oranges; it’s comparing apples to durian fruit.

        You literally have no freakin’ idea what the hell you are talking about. But you keep on doin’ you; it isn’t useful for intellectual discussion, but it’s funny AF.

        If Hitler was “right wing”, I guess none of his ACTUAL economic policies existed, did they??? Mussolini, ditto (but at least he MADE the trains run on time, amirite????). Please explain the ACTUAL policy differences between Hitler and Joe Stalin, I’d be interested in your half-assed attempt.

        If Stalin was “leftist”, in what way, EXACTLY, was Hitler “rightist”????

        Do you have someone follow you around to remind you to breathe???

        • Wow- I didn’t expect my comment to generate this response.

          First, I am right-wing. The only two Presidential candidates I was excited to vote for were Trump (for wanting to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it) and Pat Buchanan (for obvious awesome reasons).

          Second, authoritarian left-wing ideologies like Marxism, Communism, Bolshevism, Wokeism, and Bidenism are ideologically distinct from right-wing authoritarian systems like Nazism, Fascism, Falangism, Francoism, etc.

          The Nazis burned pornography and burned down transgender-promoting organizations of the day. As for economics policies- they gave women money for having children. That sounds awesome. Hitler also ended the hyper-inflation from the Weimar. Is sound money policy somehow left-wing now? Last person who seriously talked about that in America was Ron Paul. Nobody would call Ron Paul left-wing.

          Words have meaning, and you are wrong about this. Why is this the hill you are willing to die on? There are evil people who push puberty blockers on kids- yet you direct insane vitriol at me for saying “fascist left” doesn’t make sense. I don’t like the left- but they aren’t fascists and fascism is preferable to how we live in America now.

          Under fascism- there would be no BLM riots in 2020 or puberty blockers pushed on your kids or the filth you see on TV and in movies.

          Finally- COVID was a hoax (the danger was exaggerated and the lockdowns were targeted at small business owners), but N95 masks are effective against NBC threats. Everyone who calls themselves a prepper should know how to properly don and doff them.

        • Well, that was an inept and steaming pile o’ shite!!

          Please explicate, in DETAIL, what of Hitler’s ACTUAL POLICIES, particularly the economic ones, you would characterize as “right wing”, and why?? As for Franco, I would ask the same question. Mussolini? Yeah, him, too. While an argument could be made that Pinochet was “right-wing” (I think there is substantial available evidence to the contrary, but I’ll grant you that one), he was more an authoritarian than anything.

          Even if I grant you (which I don’t) that it is possible, aguendo, for a right-winger in power to be a fascist (first explain what YOU mean by “right-wing”), I will pose this interesting observation, for your consideration: While I will accept, for the sake of argument, that there are ALSO “right-wing” fascists (although, be prepared to name them, and be specific about what YOU think makes them “right-wing”), ALL Leftists are fascists (I will accept, for the sake of argument, that there MAY be a few “right-wing” fascists out there, but they would be DAMN few, if any).

          Then I finally noticed that you identified yourself as “right of center” by using your support of Trump and Buchanan as “right-wing”. Trump is no such thing, and never has been. Sweet Baby Jeebus on a nuclear-powered pogo stick!!! The man was a REGISTERED Dimocrat for most of his life, and few, if ANY of his policies could accurately be described as “conservative”. As for Buchanan, ’nuff said. “Social Conservative” =/= “right wing”.

          And therein may lie the reason for my obvious frustration. Being a “populist” by espousing “popular” causes which are every bit as authoritarian as many Leftist policies, even though in pursuit of opposite goals, is not “conservative” in any group I am familiar with. Any efforts to compel compliance with YOUR perceived values is inherently NOT “conservative” – our Founders didn’t do it, and would be embarrassed by the modern efforts, on EITHER side, to do it.

          Don’t know about you, chief, but I have plenty to do trying to keep my own life on the rails. Even if I had the spare time and energy to concern myself with how you live yours, I don’t presume to have the right to do so, and have absolutely NO desire to. Every man has the right to go to hell his own way.

          I do, however, know the difference – the OBJECTIVE difference – between most conservative/libertarians and fascists, and what is objectively fascist behavior. I can point to thousands, if not millions, of examples of Leftist fascism, yet, with the POSSIBLE exception of Pinochet, I would be hard put to find an actual conservative engaged in objectively fascist behavior. And don’t even DARE name either Hitler, or Mussolini, as supposed examples – there is not ONE THING about their social or economic policies that could accurately be characterized as “conservative”.

        • I would call
          – burning down transgender clinics
          – expanding firearm rights
          – removing non-Christians from power
          – ending hyperinflation
          – promoting natalism
          – cracking down on drugs and prostitution
          – put communists in prison

          … right-wing.

          Hitler did that. That’s was fascism is.

          If doing everything Leon Trotsky wanted is right-wing, then I don’t want to be right-wing.

          If making Communists take helicopter rides, like Pinochet, is right wing… then I’m cool with that.

          My aunt was a Catholic religious sister in Spain during the civil war. She was tortured, murdered, and raped by Communists. So ya, I hate Communists and leftists, and I love real Fascists. Viva Franco.

        • Publius,

          Yes, I would call those actions ‘fascist’, too – exercises of authoritarian power, in pursuit of government-sanctioned objectives (in almost all cases, NOT arrived at with any actual democratic or republican representative input). “Fascist” =/= “right-wing”. That you make that automatic connection says more about you, child, than about me, or libertarian/conservatism.

          Again, please explain, IN SPECIFICS what makes THOSE POLICIES “right-wing”. Hitler was a socialist, the National Socialist German Workers’ Party was . .. socialist. Socialism is NOT “right-wing”. It is fascist, as is communism, communalism, and any other stupid label you want to put on fascism to dress it up – lipstick does not make it NOT a pig. No matter what you do, that sow’s ear will never be a silk purse.

          When you find yourself floundering (which you most definitely are, whether you are willing to admit it, or not), go back and look at your bases premises, and definitional issues. You look at naked fascism, and label it “right-wing” without explication or justification. YOU call those actions “right-wing”. On what basis???

          Conservatism, even when I was in college in the early-to-mid 70s, was considered a belief system based upon individual liberty, small and limited government, and a generally free market economic policies. Idiots like you have allowed the Leftist/fascists to define it to include corporate capitalism (not ONE, SINGLE classical economist would accept that definition), crony capitalism (which the Left invented and perfected), and authoritarian “social conservatism”. Disapproving of certain behaviors or lifestyles (which many ACTUAL conservatives do) does no equal thinking the government can, or should, intervene.

          Do I deplore the “transgender” movement and social theology? Absolutely. But Dylan Mulvaney is welcome to play court jester to his Leftist/fascist friends all he wants; he is an adult. I don’t think the government has a role in suppressing transgender activism, so long as it is not supported by government money (i.e., MY money), and so long at it is not targeted at minors.

          This sh*t isn’t complicated. Figure you, and DEFINE, what YOU mean when you use words like “conservative”, and “liberal”, and “right-wing”, and “left-wing”, and “communism” and “socialism” and “fascism”. ALL of those words have very developed definitions, that were widely accepted and agreed upon for YEARS (decades, in most cases), and the use of those words, today, bears little or no resemblance to those established definitions.

          At the end of the day, I don’t give a shart what YOU think “fascism” means, or “right-wing” means, or “conservative” means. I’m interested in the definitions YOU are attaching to those words, in a (probably vain and useless) effort to figure out exactly WTF your “point of view” is . . . more from intellectual curiousity than anthing else. Those words have meanings. I understand the impetus of the fascist Left to play fast and loose with those definitions, to suit their narrative du jours, I simply don’t allow them to do that. Whether YOU consider yourself “conservative” or “right-wing” or “anti-fascist” or whatever, means nothing to me. For the purposes of having (or attempting to have) a reasoned discussion about it, I have to at least understand what you are actually intending when you use them.

          As a closing note, “fascism” DOES NOT equal “right-wing”, and never has. Two distinct concepts. But, hey, thanks for carrying water for the fascist Left by accepting THEIR (incorrect) definitions of previously well-understood words.

        • Publius, I have a RED HOT NEW FLASH for you. Back in the day, Nazi’s and Fascists as well as our Leftist brethren well all for abortion, etc. Quite the contrary to your missive above, the Nazis and Fascists as well as our Leftist brethren have always been for “gun control.” It is their method of getting an keeping control over the people. I don’t know where you got your information from but you don’t sound anything like a “right winger”. And I don’t care if your sister, aunt or whomever was the pope.

        • @LampOfDiogenes:
          The NSDAP privatized national industries and basically banned communist trade unions. They also got rid of welfare. The top personal income tax rate was 13.7% in Germany in 1943, compared to 23.7% in the UK and 94% in United States.

          @Walter E Beverly III
          What are you talking about? The NSDAP made abortion illegal again after it was legalized in the Weimar Republic. They also made it easier for average German citizens to own firearms after the Allies imposed gun control on the Central Powers as part of the Treaty of Versailles.

          Also, that’s a callous was to respond to my Aunt’s murder by communists. Why do you hate the people that historically opposed communism. Do you like communism?

        • Publius, Nazi Germany was famous for killing Jewish babies in the womb?
          The only people who the Nazis allowed to have firearms were Nazi Party members.
          And I still don’t give a RAT’s behind if your sister, aunt or whomever was the pope. That was no reference to the Communists of which I am sure you are most sympathetic.

      • Publius. Nothing you listed was any different from hitler to mao to stalin. Nothing. All symptoms of the same evil.

        • The political spectrum isn’t a line; it’s a circle. 🙂

          Go far enough right and you’ll end up on the left, ready to repeat the circuit gain.

        • Sophistry. Not a circle.

          Nazi/”fascists” and Commie/pinkos are just degenerate siblings arguing about which of the “should” be in charge. Read the history of the US progs/socialists/commies of the before WWII.

        • Good example, Lamp. I haven’t seen that grid in a while.

          My comment about the circle was somewhat facetious, but it has a grain of truth imbedded. We could draw a circle over that Political Compass and make it into a corrupted Venn diagram.

        • The “left” and “right” came from the seating locations of politicians during the French Revolution. Progressives sat on the left side. Traditionalists sat on the right. Authoritarian rule has never been an American tradition. Therefore calling wannabe authoritarians right wing in the USA is dumb. Making America into an authoritarian state would be revolutionary. It would be left wing.

      • fascism
        noun
        fas·​cism ˈfa-ˌshi-zəm also ˈfa-ˌsi-
        Synonyms of fascism
        1
        often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
        2
        : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control

        Does not sound like normal “right wing” or conservative policy to me.

        As I remember it- Fascism, and Fascists, always favored/favors one chosen elite class above all others. Conservatives generally favor those policies and ideals that have maintained ALL members in a society for millennia. The Left, and their Fascists, Elitists and wannabes little dictators in the favored class always claim to better know how to run other people’s lives than we, the great unwashed, and in particular, the Right, and Conservatives- IOW- the working class who always have to fund those crack dreams for the Left.

        And it’s also ludicrous to claim any Nazis- which originally stood for National Socialist German Worker’s Party, are on the political right. They were, and are a sort of trade union gone bad. Publius should line up all of those right wing labor unions to further prove his/her/its point.

      • “The “fascist left”? That phrase makes no sense. Fascism was/is a populist/right-wing political movement.”

        Not any more. The modern Fascist movement “Black Lives Matter”, was hijacked by the literal Fascists.

        Hear it straight from the mouth of one of the co-founders of ‘Black Lives Matter’.

        The money quote : “We are trained organizers, we are trained Marxists, we are super versed on, sort of, ideological theories …”

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgEUbSzOTZ8

        • Yeah- Marxism is not Fascism. Why do you not understand that?

          BLM is a left wing, Marxist, anti-white movement. Why do you want it to be a Fascist movement? When it isn’t? Because Hollywood gave you permission to hate right wing movements?

        • Yeah- Marxism is not Fascism. Why do you not understand that?

          BLM is a left wing, Marxist, anti-white movement. Why do you want it to be a Fascist movement? When it isn’t? Because Hollywood gave you permission to hate right wing movements?

          Keep attacking Trump supporters, libtard.

        • A fascist is simply an advocate or follower of the political philosophy or system of fascism. What the left is doing is fascism in the form of maxism socialism which is what comes before communism or dictatorship or tyranny is emplaced. It is a systematic fascism by social upheaval to destabilize a society by use of violence and forcing political and society changes. One key element is disarming the populace.

          It was a key element in Hitlers play book in his rise to power. Its been a key element in every tyrant-ready-emplacement country in history. The Romans did it, Hitler did it, Castro did it, China did it, Russia did it, every Asian country did it, the UK did it, every country in Europe did it. The left wing is trying it today in the U.S. …they are trying it in the UK and Australia and Europe with their version of our left wing.

          Today its collectively called “Wokeness”, and this is how it works…

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QveeRbsrYKQ

        • Fascism has always been left wing. Just because it was to the right of communism doesn’t mean it was right wing. Mussolini liked Karl Marx’s ideas.

      • Publius…

        seriously, you had to post the same thing twice?

        Why? Didn’t it sound ignorant enough the first time you posted it?

      • Publius, just like the REAL Leftie you are, you try to claim that Fascism is a “right wing” philosophy. HORSE PUCKY! Do you know who wrote Mussolini’s Manifesto? I suggest you research the name Giovanni Gentile, an Italian Socialist who ghostwrote for Mussolini. Frankly, you have been well indoctrinated by your Leftist masters.

  2. The same description of “disillusioned young men” is also applicable to young women — the Nashville shooter being a case on point.

    Now the really hard question: how do you stop it? When the mentally ill become adept at masking their illness from friends and family, or the family believes that their child is receiving effective treatment, there are often no clear signs that the child is “going sideways.”

    • Remember when the (criminally)insane were locked up? Been awhile hasn’t it?!? Let alone calling evil “evil”. The mass proliferation of psychotropic drugs sure doesn’t help. When I was a lad crazy kids killed themselves. They usually didn’t slaughter the innocent. Now the do. Meanwhile in Chiraq a family was robbed at gunpoint as they were loading up the UHaul to move from their hellhole🙄

  3. It has absolutely nothing to do with mental illness. 0, zilch, nada. It has everything to do with choices and more importantly…EVIL. Mental health is just the next excuse for not holding criminals responsible for their Evil acts. Another way to waste tax dollars to feed another sector of the medical community. That by the way kills over 800,000 people every year, through malpractice and medical mistakes. Mental illness will become the next tool in the gun grabbers arsenal to deny someone’s 2nd Amendment Rights. Beware of who gets to decide if you are competent enough to own a firearm. Their political ideology and agenda may well play a significant role in that decision. You have been warned.

    • Look at how “mental health” was abused in the former c0mmunist block, and still is in Russia. Since dissidents didn’t like the party and the system, they must be mentally ill and need treatment, lots of “treatment”.

      Dacian is salivating at the thought, if not self-pleasuring.

      • In Russia, they are building churches. In America, we tear them down and have gay pride parades.

        Putin removed Bolshevism and put the Orthodox Church in a position of power.

        I wish America was like this. I just have democrats calling me “racist”.

    • Darkman,

      I would point out that the actual, legal definition of “insanity” (for use in asserting the so-called insanity defense) is “inability to distinguish right from wrong”. As far as I am concerned, anybody that can shoot up a school of innocent kids, or drive an SUV or cargo truck into a crowd of strangers, is (as my dear daddy used to say) as crazy as a sh*thouse rat. Not sure what your definition of mental illness is, but I’m pretty sure it’s not the one I use.

      Now, it is certainly possible for a crazy person to ALSO be objectively evil. One might even argue that objective evil thought and behavior are definitionally insane.

  4. There are no mental health problems just like there are no drug abuse problems.

    Everything is a choice. A beautiful expression of ones own creativity and diversity. Including meandering down the sidewalk like a zombie, hearing voices and mutilating oneself at the enrichment of others.

  7. Many of these murderers are not “mentally ill” they are sometimes depressed due to environmental factors or angry due to bullying or other abuse. In both cases, they have usually, but not always, sought or were forced to seek psychiatric assistance. Most of the shooters were, in fact, taking medications that “may cause suicidal thoughts or actions”. It is my belief that a hard look at the FDA approval criteria resulting in many of these so called antidepressants that, a large percentage of the time result in exacerbating depression, being taken off the market is in order. My guess is that not only would we have fewer mass shootings but fewer suicides and fewer domestic murder/suicides as well. If you think about it, it is the one of the major changes in medicine that preceded the precipitous increase in suicides and mass shootings.

    • “Many of these murderers are not “mentally ill” they are sometimes depressed due to environmental factors or angry due to bullying or other abuse.”

      All mass shooters (which includes school shooters) are mentally ill. This has been known for a long time.

      Forensic psychiatrists James L. Knoll IV, MD, and George D. Annas, MD, MPH, of SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse New York, both leading authorities on the mental health aspects of mass/school shooters, summed it up for the mental health community various studies on various aspects in terms of mass/school shooters…. Although mass shooters may not meet DSM-5 criteria for a recognized disorder, “they do have an ill-defined trouble of the mind for which the mental health field has no immediate, quick-acting ‘treatment,’” – in other words, mass/school shooters do have mental illness but not something clearly defined and for which the mental health community has no immediate quick-acting treatment, such treatment includes diagnosis so its a mental illness that has not yet been diagnosed.

      In the Journal of Threat Assessment and Management, (Lankford, A., & Cowan, R. G. (2020)) ( https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Ftam0000151 ) … Cowan writes of their research they “…closely analyzed public mass shooters who attacked in the United States from 1966 to 2019 and found that correlates of mental illness were approximately equally common among perpetrators, whether they had been coded as mentally ill or not.”

      Even the politicians that did the safer communities act bill know they are mentally ill… listen starting at 1:36 in the video below…

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj2BUPt80jU

    • Depression, especially severe clinical depression, is a form of mental illness.

      I disagree with anyone who contends that there is no such thing as mental illness, or that mental illness is a choice. If you’ve ever personally experienced any facet of mental illness, or had a friend or relative afflicted with such, you would better understand the insidious nature of the disease.

  9. America Has a Mental Health Infrastructure Problem, currently occupying the Whitehouse and most of Congress, and 50% of the states governors, and the people who vote for them.

  10. I think it is time to end this nonsense about “gun control.” What we really need is criminal control and placing severely mentally ill who are a threat to themselves or others in mental facilities.
    We do NOT have a “gun problem”; we do have a People Problem! Many of them are Leftists.

  11. Mental Health Infrastructure Problem?
    No.
    America has a Mental Health problem.
    There is some “expert” claiming children can be mermaids, centaurs, or change their sexes based off the time of the year.
    There are kids dressing up as cats and going to school like that.
    “Gender affirming care.” Need I say more?
    Half the country has lost it’s mind and the other half is looking at them like WTF is wrong with you?

  13. Well no kidding. And just who has blocked funding for Socialist, affordable, mental health care like all other civilized nations have had for decades???? It was the Republicans and they continue to do so.

    And who shut down all the State run mental institutions to save money. It was the skinflint Ronald Reagan. This decision led directly to the current homeless crisis in the U.S.

    https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/commentary/story/2023-04-24/opinion-impact-of-deinstitutionalization-on-homelessness-reagan-mental-health-hospitals-san-diego

  15. We have a very real national crisis of disillusioned Radical Leftists who believe our freedom is theirs to take away at their whim! Many of these same Communist inspired Leftists have found their way into power and threaten the very fabric of our Republic. The time is approaching when those of conscience must deal with the evil these people represent in kinetic terms. I once was convinced this is something my grandchildren would have to address, but no longer.

  16. What we rarely hear is the position, “I have no obligation to put up with the criminal’s or mental case’s bad behavior. Get rid of him. Treat him if he is ill, against his will if that’s what it takes, or imprison him if he is sane and willfully evil.”

      • “a screwy rabbit last longer then a daffy duck”

        It slipped by you. Rabbits are masters at the ‘quickie’… 😉

  18. Though they tend to get less public attention than gun-related murders, suicides have long accounted for the majority of U.S. gun deaths. In 2021, 54% of all gun-related deaths in the U.S. were suicides (26,328), while 43% were murders (20,958), according to the CDC. The remaining gun deaths that year were accidental (549), involved law enforcement (537) or had undetermined circumstances (458).

    The states with the highest gun suicide rates in 2021 included Wyoming (22.8 per 100,000 people), Montana (21.1), Alaska (19.9), New Mexico (13.9) and Oklahoma (13.7). The states with the lowest gun suicide rates were Massachusetts (1.7), New Jersey (1.9), New York (2.0), Hawaii (2.8) and Connecticut (2.9). Rate estimates are not available for the District of Columbia.

      • Breaking it down by city or zip can’t tell us anything we don’t already know from this: “The states with the highest gun suicide rates in 2021 included Wyoming (22.8 per 100,000 people), Montana (21.1), Alaska (19.9), New Mexico (13.9) and Oklahoma (13.7).” The number of suicides in each ZIP will be 1 in the years in which they occur.
        The states with the lowest gunshot suicide rates have enormous populations. And, so few suicides that the number of suicides in each zIP will be 1 in the years in which they occur.

        The problem is suicidal ideation. It is not a problem of guns, rope, bridges, or poisons. It is suicidal ideation. And that means that the problem is twice the size of gunshot suicides. The problem is the sum of suicides by gunshot plus non-gunshot.
        And, the problem is orders of magnitude larger. For every suicide there are 10 or 100 or 1000 people suffering from suicidal
        ideation who do NOT kill themselves; at least not this year.
        And for each of these there are 100s or 1000s more who suffer from depression, bipolar, anxiety, PTSD/CPTSD and other mental illnesses that are readily treatable.

        But, because America has bought into the DEA’s self-serving propaganda, psychiatrists are unwilling to stick their necks out and prescribe those drugs that are the most promising to treat these mental illnesses.

        And we PotG are cheerfully applauding the DEA’s propaganda in the War on Drugs. So, we aren’t interested in saving the lives of these millions of mental illness sufferers. We just don’t want to talk about gunshot suicides or mental illness no matter how it manifests.

        Most of this mental illness, maybe as much as half, is readily treatable. But it’s not going to be treated as long as psychiatrists and the public stick our heads in the sand.

  19. The problem is incels.
    The demise of the institution of monogamous marriage has put an end to the time honored tradition of equitable access to women. High status males are once again hoarding defacto harems. More women who are unable to secure a high status male are increasingly content to remain single and even celibate. This has created an enormous cadre of young males who can’t get laid. Easy access to pornography doesn’t relieve their frustrations.

    Just look at all of the mass shooters of recent years starting with Harris and Klebold. They are all a bunch of losers who women eschew. Since it is unlikely that the institution of marriage can be revitalized, another solution is needed. We need to repeal the prohibition on prostitution. It isn’t enough to legalize prostitution. We need to distribute vouchers to the neediest, least attractive incels. Since the demand will no doubt exceed supply, we’ll have to draft a cadre of women to serve in the State sanctioned brothels. Exemptions would be granted only to women who are married.

    • Just what we need: Government-owned and operated brothels. They will soon put an end to recreational sex by making it prohibitively expensive.

      • We could round up women coming over the border illegally, call them “comfort women” and sell their services cheaply to ugly males with no personality.
        sound familiar?
        That would make the U.S. government a pimp. It is already playing “father” to a large percentage of the last 3 generations in this country. Maybe we could round up the female “children” of “father” to do the deed.
        If these ugly men with bad personalities refuse ugly women with bad personalities, they are forced to go without. Other gay men don’t want them, they only want what superficial women want, pretty boys.
        So maybe, the government should use subliminal messages to make ugly men want other ugly men for homosexual sex.
        Sorry, but ugly men get pretty women all the time. Just look at Lyle Lovett with “Pretty Woman” herself, Julia Roberts. It is seen all the time, and the ugly man doesn’t have to be rich, he just has to be charming.

  20. Anyone who can rationalize the irrational and commit intentional murder of innocents because of race, sex, politics, religion or whatever else, absolutely has to be mentally ill.
    However, that doesn’t mean there needs to be a massive incarceration or institutionalization of people. What is needed is a return to holding young people accountable for minor crimes and indiscretions. Knowing you will be held to account for your actions and there are consequences does more to correct such behaviors than any amount of counseling or drugs ever would.
    On the above discussion on Fascism etc. Read what Gentile wrote on the issue. Fascism is indeed an offshoot of Marxist ideology. The NAZI’s were the National Socialist German Workers Party. Mussolini was a life long Socialist.
    The NAZI’s believed the Slavic/Russian/Bolsheviks were Untermensch or less than fully human or a lesser form of man. And wanted them as slaves and wanted their real estate.
    Most of us out here on the more conservative, right wing want less government and less interference in day to day life.

  21. I agree with the OP: We have a very real national crisis of disillusioned young men who are increasingly alienated from society, overly connected to the internet, and full of anger. They are too easily pulled into extremism and too often turn to violence as an outlet. . . . . To put it nicely, we have a local, state, and national mental health infrastructure that is failing and falling apart.”

    Nevertheless, I assert the OP is focusing on the wrong target: “While many public shooters do not necessarily have a diagnosable mental illness, they’re rarely the epitome of mental stability.”

    “[P]public shooters” cause a minuscule number of emotionally captivating deaths and injuries. We the PotG are the objective adults in the room. We are the ones capable of “doing it by the numbers.”

    We know very well that 60-67% of gun deaths are suicides. These have nothing to do with “[P]public shooters” causing a minuscule number of emotionally captivating deaths and injuries.

    We know very well that the remaining 30% or so gun deaths and nearly all non-fatal soundings are “disillusioned young men who are increasingly alienated from society” but are not “[P]public shooters”.

    The emphasis on the “[P]public shooters” is a search for the needles in a haystack. People with suicidal ideation and “disillusioned young men who are increasingly alienated from society” are easily identified.

    Government, society and the mental-health “experts” are all miserably failing suicidal people and disillusioned young men. Why? Because we refuse to bring to bear the psychiatric tools we ought to recognize are capable of treating much of the mental health crisis.

    Among the readily treatable targets are: 1) suicidal ideation; and, 2) PTSD/C-PTSD. C-PTSD is mostly caused by developmental trauma. Poor parenting from cradle to kindergarten.

    A single drug, ketamine, is capable of mitigating 60% of suicidal ideation cases, often within hours. Three drugs: MDMA, ketamine and psilocybin, are the most promising for treating PTSD/C-PTSD. Yet, because they are DEA Controlled Substances, psychiatrists are unwilling to prescribe them. Psychiatrists are wrapped-up in the societal taboo called the War on Drugs. So, they stick their heads in the sand and decry consideration of these drugs.

    We PotG don’t care, either. We leave the gun death statistics to the gun-control advocates. We don’t mind that they have the death numbers to keep voters wrapped-up in the false promise of gun-control. We PotG are all too often captured by the societal taboo against every drug Congress or the DEA decides to put on the Controlled Substances schedules.

    We PotG could do something about this crisis. We could start with our own affinity group: gun owners with suicidal ideation. But we prefer to stick our heads in the sand and ignore gunshot suicides. They are not our issue. Nothing we care to do about them. Let the gun-control advocates use the 20,000 gunshot suicides per year to advance their cause.

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