Photo: JJ Gouin - Getty Images
Shooting scene with gun and casings
I’m utterly sick, tired and pissed that we continue to use the term “mentally ill” to explain away mass murderers. These people may or may not have a diagnosable mental illness. But even if they do, that does not explain their actions. It’s time to stop dismissing mass shootings as the product of diseased brains alone. Studies show the percentage of persons suffering mental illness who commit violent crimes is lower than the general, so-called normal population. What’s more, they are far more likely to be victims of violence.
The obstructionists in the U.S. Senate, not to mention many demagogues in state governments, will offer their putrid thoughts and prayers from the empty shells they call souls. It would be better if they said nothing because that’s what they offer us as solutions. Nothing. While they suckle at the monied breast of the gun lobby, they wave the false flag of “mental illness” to explain carnage that is aided and abetted by their own depraved indifference. I’m no attorney, but I can make a case that they should be tried and found guilty of such.
So, what is behind the thoughts, emotions and actions of mass killers? Evil. You want a more scientific explanation? There are plenty out there. There are brain studies and personality profiles and genetic analyses. There is forensic psychology. All the better. Maybe someday we will figure out what makes the worst among us tick. But, for now, understanding as little as we do about the origins of truly aberrant human behavior, I’m sticking with the simplest explanation. Evil.
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Pro-Life? Really?
It’s a different kind of evil than that exhibited by the look-the-other-way politicians who have ignored widespread public support for common sense gun laws. These feckless hacks are all about themselves, and they will do anything to stay in power. Children be damned. But they’re pro-life, right? These miscreants tell their constituents to arm themselves against the bad guys, that more guns in the hands of the public translates into greater safety. The research on that opinion is crystal clear. It’s utter crap. After the assault weapons ban was allowed to expire in 2004, mass shootings rose 183% and continue to increase precipitously. America leads the world in firearms ownership, mass murders, particularly school shootings, as well as gun violence in general. If more guns translated into greater safety, we’d be the safest nation on the planet. In case you haven’t noticed, we ain’t. Only Brazil edges us out for the shameful top spot.
Enhanced background checks, red flag laws, an assault weapons ban, outlawing ghost guns—these and other common-sense measures won’t eliminate all gun violence and mass shootings, but they will help turn back the bloody tide inundating our nation. In the gun friendly state of Texas, scene of the most recent carnage, an 18-year-old who can’t buy alcohol can purchase an assault rifle and high-capacity magazine with ease. These guns are made for one purpose, to kill other people. They are weapons of war, the one now being waged in our schools, churches, stores and neighborhoods.
The evil lurking within these mass killers, one that is violently visited upon their victims, arises from forces we do not entirely understand. Sure, we have enough data to create working hypotheses, but proof positive seems distant. I’ve sat across the room from a couple of truly evil people in my life, sent to me by the courts for psychological evaluation. They exuded a malevolent energy that was palpable but could not be put into words. You can look at these people through any number of lenses—psychology, neurology, sociology, religion, genetics—but there seems more to their twisted minds than we can decipher.
As for those politicians who, through their indifference and inaction, assist these evil doers, your moral cowardice is on full display. Republican, Democrat, Independent, Libertarian . . . can’t we set aside our ideological differences and protect our children and each other?
Think about the lives and safety of your kids, nieces and nephews, grandchildren and other loved ones. And then vote these bums out.
For more, visit philipchard.com.
