Friday, January 14, 2011

The shooting in Arizona has brought some attention to more than one hot topic.  There is a lot of talk about gun control and now discussions on mental illness.  What is sad is that once the dust settles I doubt the talk will continue.  I have one question concerning gun control.  Were any of the gun toting Arizonians at the supermarket that day?  All those liberal gun laws didn't protect anyone did they?   And I heard about a law in Arizona that allows anyone who suspects that someone is suffering from a mental illness can have that person committed.  Yet, few people in Arizona even know about it and even if they did there is no where for them to get services anyway.

How sad it is that that young man was showing so many signs of mental illness and though many were aware that something wasn't right no one intervened not even law enforcement though they had several encounters with Loughner.  I'm sad for him, his family and the people whose lives were lost because of his dillusions.  I just hope that something good can come from his delusional act.  I hope our Nation will wake up and address the issues associated with mental illness and put our money where our mouths are!

4 comments:

kenju said...

AMEN. This kind of thing has happened too many times; where people are aware that there is something wrong, but no one says or does anything to get help for the person.

marciamayo said...

Dani, what an excellent point and one I hadn't thought of. I though everyone in Arizona at this point was toting at least 1 six shooter, so they can protect themselves, but it didn't happen.

Arkansas Patti said...

Me too. As you know so well, help beyond warehousing, is not always easy to get nor is it affordable. We HAVE to do better.

Olga said...

I have been thinking of you and your situation through all this. You know how difficult it is to get help. It is pretty clear that we do not do any where near a credible job of helping those with mental illness. I don't have answers, but I am hoping the focus of all this attention will shift that way.