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Shooting in Connecticut

34 gun deaths in Switzerland, where every man has a gun at home as part of his military obligations, including fully automatic assault weapons.

That signals to me that the problems in the US with guns is more cultural than anything else.

A horrible mess they have made for themselves.
... also, the poster is from 1981.
 
though I do believe violent crime cut nearly in half from 1990 figures.
 
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A man goes on a gun spree in America and we get deaths. China with a knife? Nothing.

Imagine if the Chinese guy had a couple of semi-automatic pistols. He could have killed many dozens.


If you compare general crime in Britain and the US there are similar rates for rape, assault, robbery, etc (generally within a factor of two). Gun deaths are two orders of magnitude more frequent (even after halving in the US).
 
People. What's wrong with people, not with this country. The country did not make this lunatic go and kill kids. Surely state gun laws made it easier, but this isn't representative of the country. Come on.
I'm sure Britain has a similar amount of nutjobs, but the liberal gun laws in your country and allow brick like this to happen again and again.
 
Very sad. It is also extremely sad that we live in an age where we are almost completely desensitised to these events now, for me it still brings emotional sorrow, but not any shock.

In terms of Gun Control, in the context of the US it will not happen. If next month you changed the laws there, what percentage of those most likely to cause these deaths would, firstly, legally own their gun and, secondly, be willing to hand it/them over?

You are about a 0.0042% or 1 in 23,749 risk of being inolved in a homicidal shooting (using 2007's numbers), but what risk are you in when living of the most deprived areas of LA etc? Just LA changes the numbers it was 1 in 13K so nearly twice as a baseline, if you drilled into the roughest areas you would probably see figures ever closer to 1 in 1K. If you lived in an area where theft, drug addiction*, prostition, gang fights were rife and you were about 1 in 1K chance of being victim of homicide, would you hand over a handgun? Let's say you are law abiding in every way, do you think it would be fair to remove this protection of ones property? (in the third person, as I think it is insane of course, yet fear over bearing government is already unveiling itself worldwide)

* I think the whole setup in the US means it can only really change the culture by legalising drugs, creating income for poor countries by buying the drugs from governments, strengthening the local ecomonies whilst starving the oxygen which fuels this depravation by changing the dynamic of drug use. The cartels would fall, corruption in enforcement services should plummet and hopefully be erradicated (almost) completely. It would cut right down not just homicide but also many more especially theft.

Also ceasing the incarceration of non-violent criminals, saving huge amounts of money and keeping more families intact (I've known a lot of drug addicts who were lovely people, aside from the destructive nature which prohition makes endemic and dangerous).

If the US could change this I could see a brighter future for the western world.

It's a real shame Ron Paul wasn't allowed a fair chance at running (IMO).

Sorry I realise this is not about lone psychopaths.
 
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Former classmates of Adam Lanza, 20, the man identified by US media as the gunman in the Sandy Hook School killings, do not remember much about him.

They talk of a boy who dressed smartly and worked hard, but who barely said a word during his time at school.

Police are investigating whether he suffered from a personality disorder.

Lanza was "obviously not well", a relative told ABC News.

He appears to have shunned the limelight. US media report that there was no photograph of him in his high school yearbook of 2010. "Camera shy" was the comment by his entry.

He apparently had no Facebook page and his electronic footprint was minimal.
'Shy and nervous'

Adam Lanza lived with his mother in a well-to-do neighbourhood of Newtown, Connecticut. The house is about five miles (8km) from Sandy Hook School, which some reports said he had attended in his youth.

He went on to Newtown High School, but made few friends. ABC News has reported his mother pulled him out of the school and taught him at home because she was unhappy with the school district's plan for his education.

Intelligent but shy and nervous were the most common memories of those who learnt beside him.

A former classmate, Olivia DeVivo, told the New York Times: "I never saw him with anyone. I can't even think of one person that was associated with him."

Another former classmate, Joshua Milas, described him as "probably one of the smartest kids I know. He was probably a genius".

A former school bus driver in the town, Marsha Moskowitz, said she remembered the Lanza boys.

"You know the trouble kids, and you figure, 'Pfft, that one's going to be trouble.' But I never would have thought that about them," she told the Hartford Courant newspaper.

His aunt, Marsha Lanza, told the Associated Press that he had been raised by kind, nurturing parents, who would not have hesitated to seek counselling for their son if he needed it.

The parents divorced in 2009, having separated at least three years earlier. His father, Peter Lanza, moved to Stamford, Connecticut, and remarried three years later.

His mother, Nancy, remained in the family home, where it is thought she was killed by her son. She had continued to work as a teacher.

Adam Lanza's elder brother, 24-year-old Ryan, had moved to Hoboken, New Jersey, after graduating from Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. He works for the accountants Ernst & Young

His friends described him as smart but shy.

Ryan Lanza has been helping police with their investigation and US media is reporting that he told them he had had no contact with his brother since 2010.

The two boys were reportedly deeply affected by their parents' separation and divorce. Neighbours say they were left depressed, but their mother had continued to work to protect them.
 
I'm sure Britain has a similar amount of nutjobs, but the liberal gun laws in your country and allow brick like this to happen again and again.

There was a twitter read out on one of the news shows, something like:

if only help for mental illness was as easy to access as purchasing a gun.

Sums it up really.
 
There are almost as many guns in America as there are people, yet when it comes to gun related murders, the United States is only 28th highest in the world.

In countries like Israel and Switzerland, almost every household has a weapon, yet gun related crime is almost unheard of.

Clearly, limiting the availability of weapons is not the simple answer many would have you believe it is.

I very much doubt that any legislation imaginable would have prevented the terrible tragedy which occurred in Newtown recently.
 
But in Israel and Switzerland, the people who have guns have had training through national service. I'd also guess that the type and number of guns is less.

When you compare similar countries, its clear that the US is very different from the vast majority. The correlation between gun ownership and gun deaths is very clear (with a few outliers). If the guns is availability of guns is not the cause, you have to conclude that Americans are unique in being more mentally unhinged than anyone else and its just coincidence they have more guns.
 
Thinking the Unthinkable

In the wake of another horrific national tragedy, it’s easy to talk about guns. But it’s time to talk about mental illness.

Three days before 20 year-old Adam Lanza killed his mother, then opened fire on a classroom full of Connecticut kindergartners, my 13-year old son Michael (name changed) missed his bus because he was wearing the wrong color pants.

“I can wear these pants,” he said, his tone increasingly belligerent, the black-hole pupils of his eyes swallowing the blue irises.

“They are navy blue,” I told him. “Your school’s dress code says black or khaki pants only.”

“They told me I could wear these,” he insisted. “You’re a stupid bitch. I can wear whatever pants I want to. This is America. I have rights!”

“You can’t wear whatever pants you want to,” I said, my tone affable, reasonable. “And you definitely cannot call me a stupid bitch. You’re grounded from electronics for the rest of the day. Now get in the car, and I will take you to school.”

I live with a son who is mentally ill. I love my son. But he terrifies me.

A few weeks ago, Michael pulled a knife and threatened to kill me and then himself after I asked him to return his overdue library books. His 7 and 9 year old siblings knew the safety plan—they ran to the car and locked the doors before I even asked them to. I managed to get the knife from Michael, then methodically collected all the sharp objects in the house into a single Tupperware container that now travels with me. Through it all, he continued to scream insults at me and threaten to kill or hurt me.

That conflict ended with three burly police officers and a paramedic wrestling my son onto a gurney for an expensive ambulance ride to the local emergency room. The mental hospital didn’t have any beds that day, and Michael calmed down nicely in the ER, so they sent us home with a prescription for Zyprexa and a follow-up visit with a local pediatric psychiatrist.

We still don’t know what’s wrong with Michael. Autism spectrum, ADHD, Oppositional Defiant or Intermittent Explosive Disorder have all been tossed around at various meetings with probation officers and social workers and counselors and teachers and school administrators. He’s been on a slew of antipsychotic and mood altering pharmaceuticals, a Russian novel of behavioral plans. Nothing seems to work.

At the start of seventh grade, Michael was accepted to an accelerated program for highly gifted math and science students. His IQ is off the charts. When he’s in a good mood, he will gladly bend your ear on subjects ranging from Greek mythology to the differences between Einsteinian and Newtonian physics to Doctor Who. He’s in a good mood most of the time. But when he’s not, watch out. And it’s impossible to predict what will set him off.

Several weeks into his new junior high school, Michael began exhibiting increasingly odd and threatening behaviors at school. We decided to transfer him to the district’s most restrictive behavioral program, a contained school environment where children who can’t function in normal classrooms can access their right to free public babysitting from 7:30-1:50 Monday through Friday until they turn 18.

The morning of the pants incident, Michael continued to argue with me on the drive. He would occasionally apologize and seem remorseful. Right before we turned into his school parking lot, he said, “Look, Mom, I’m really sorry. Can I have video games back today?”

“No way,” I told him. “You cannot act the way you acted this morning and think you can get your electronic privileges back that quickly.”

His face turned cold, and his eyes were full of calculated rage. “Then I’m going to kill myself,” he said. “I’m going to jump out of this car right now and kill myself.”

That was it. After the knife incident, I told him that if he ever said those words again, I would take him straight to the mental hospital, no ifs, ands, or buts. I did not respond, except to pull the car into the opposite lane, turning left instead of right.

“Where are you taking me?” he said, suddenly worried. “Where are we going?”

“You know where we are going,” I replied.

“No! You can’t do that to me! You’re sending me to hell! You’re sending me straight to hell!”

I pulled up in front of the hospital, frantically waiving for one of the clinicians who happened to be standing outside. “Call the police,” I said. “Hurry.”

Michael was in a full-blown fit by then, screaming and hitting. I hugged him close so he couldn’t escape from the car. He bit me several times and repeatedly jabbed his elbows into my rib cage. I’m still stronger than he is, but I won’t be for much longer.

The police came quickly and carried my son screaming and kicking into the bowels of the hospital. I started to shake, and tears filled my eyes as I filled out the paperwork—“Were there any difficulties with....at what age did your child....were there any problems with...has your child ever experienced...does your child have....”

At least we have health insurance now. I recently accepted a position with a local college, giving up my freelance career because when you have a kid like this, you need benefits. You’ll do anything for benefits. No individual insurance plan will cover this kind of thing.

For days, my son insisted that I was lying—that I made the whole thing up so that I could get rid of him. The first day, when I called to check up on him, he said, “I hate you. And I’m going to get my revenge as soon as I get out of here.”

By day three, he was my calm, sweet boy again, all apologies and promises to get better. I’ve heard those promises for years. I don’t believe them anymore.

On the intake form, under the question, “What are your expectations for treatment?” I wrote, “I need help.”

And I do. This problem is too big for me to handle on my own. Sometimes there are no good options. So you just pray for grace and trust that in hindsight, it will all make sense.

I am sharing this story because I am Adam Lanza’s mother. I am Dylan Klebold’s and Eric Harris’s mother. I am Jason Holmes’s mother. I am Jared Loughner’s mother. I am Seung-Hui Cho’s mother. And these boys—and their mothers—need help. In the wake of another horrific national tragedy, it’s easy to talk about guns. But it’s time to talk about mental illness.

According to Mother Jones, since 1982, 61 mass murders involving firearms have occurred throughout the country. (http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/mass-shootings-map). Of these, 43 of the killers were white males, and only one was a woman. Mother Jones focused on whether the killers obtained their guns legally (most did). But this highly visible sign of mental illness should lead us to consider how many people in the U.S. live in fear, like I do.

When I asked my son’s social worker about my options, he said that the only thing I could do was to get Michael charged with a crime. “If he’s back in the system, they’ll create a paper trail,” he said. “That’s the only way you’re ever going to get anything done. No one will pay attention to you unless you’ve got charges.”

I don’t believe my son belongs in jail. The chaotic environment exacerbates Michael’s sensitivity to sensory stimuli and doesn’t deal with the underlying pathology. But it seems like the United States is using prison as the solution of choice for mentally ill people. According to Human Rights Watch, the number of mentally ill inmates in U.S. prisons quadrupled from 2000 to 2006, and it continues to rise—in fact, the rate of inmate mental illness is five times greater (56 percent) than in the non-incarcerated population. (http://www.hrw.org/news/2006/09/05/us-number-mentally-ill-prisons-quadrupled)

With state-run treatment centers and hospitals shuttered, prison is now the last resort for the mentally ill—Rikers Island, the LA County Jail, and Cook County Jail in Illinois housed the nation’s largest treatment centers in 2011 (http://www.npr.org/2011/09/04/140167676/nations-jails-struggle-with-mentally-ill-prisoners)

No one wants to send a 13-year old genius who loves Harry Potter and his snuggle animal collection to jail. But our society, with its stigma on mental illness and its broken healthcare system, does not provide us with other options. Then another tortured soul shoots up a fast food restaurant. A mall. A kindergarten classroom. And we wring our hands and say, “Something must be done.”

I agree that something must be done. It’s time for a meaningful, nation-wide conversation about mental health. That’s the only way our nation can ever truly heal.

GHod help me. GHod help Michael. GHod help us all.


http://anarchistsoccermom.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/thinking-unthinkable.html
 
Polski

I have a cousin who has Asperger’s. He finds it hard to interact socially and much of that you have posted above he can relate to.

He is 18, causing his parents stress and the whole 'help' problem is one massive mess.

All these symptoms started at around 8 or 9. As a kid he was always naughty in terms of being loud and winding people up but it's easy to identify a problem looking back now, at the time however he was just labelled a 'little terror' and 'cheeky'.

Then puberty hit and the realisation of being different to most must have hit in. He is aware that much of his behaviour differs to most and he finds the simplest things in life like making new friends difficult and nearly impossible to hold a conversation without being labelled 'different'. This is where much of this frustration stems from and so he turns to other avenues to try resolve his issues. He has been taking weed (without anyone knowing) from his early teens and of course this doesn't help things but to him this is a way of escaping his problems. He now smokes it regularly and puts his parents in a position of saying he will kill himself if they do not give him the money to buy it (of course most peoples reaction is to say stand strong and do not give in to blackmail) but the problem is he is unpredictable.

Much of that you have posted is relatable. He is threating, his mum and dad cannot read him, and he is spontaneous and reacts unnaturally to things by showing no signs of emotion to things like when his pet died. He was labelled a 'bad student' at school because he was unable to sit down and take in the lessons being taught to him and was even suspended 3 or 4 times.

His parents have tried seeking help, ringing many different services, have seen phycologists, have been to the doctors but because he is an adult he has to be willing to seek help. His parents did however persuade a charitable service to send a 'councillor' around to have dealt with similar cases and he said to them that this is by far the hardest case he has come across.

Mental illness is a terrible thing and it affects many others close to the sufferer. The help out there is hard to find and parents of victims like him do not know what way to turn if he is unwilling to receive help himself. The problem is he is VERY clever and can 'act' normal to professionals when being assessed.
 
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