![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
This one is a long one.
Jul. 3rd, 2011 01:07 pm
Apparently, as a pushback against laws requiring patients diagnosed with a mental illness to give up their guns, some people are going to judges and getting their gun rights restored.
I would say I am of two minds about this, but that's not true. I'm of several minds about this, some of which happen to incidentally agree with each other. Hoo boy.
1. I am aware that mostly, mentally ill individuals are more likely to be the victims of violent crime than the perpetrators of violent crime.
2. However, I am always in favor of careful gun laws and thought on the subject. Whatever people say about "oh, I feel safe because of my guns!!!", I always think that if one loser on the train were to pull out a gun, the last thing we'd need is for two losers (or more!) on the train to pull out guns!
3. However again, allowing some rights to some people and not others should always be done with serious consideration. "Mentally ill" is such a broad term. Whom does it encompass?
4. But once we've gone ahead and done that, shouldn't we have a real system in place to restore these rights, rather than asking judges (who are no more educated about mental illness than the average person in the street) to make decisions for which they probably do not have all the information?
5. Of course, any preferable system might well be hijacked in the other direction.
So, in short - I don't know.
( Read more... )
I would say I am of two minds about this, but that's not true. I'm of several minds about this, some of which happen to incidentally agree with each other. Hoo boy.
1. I am aware that mostly, mentally ill individuals are more likely to be the victims of violent crime than the perpetrators of violent crime.
2. However, I am always in favor of careful gun laws and thought on the subject. Whatever people say about "oh, I feel safe because of my guns!!!", I always think that if one loser on the train were to pull out a gun, the last thing we'd need is for two losers (or more!) on the train to pull out guns!
3. However again, allowing some rights to some people and not others should always be done with serious consideration. "Mentally ill" is such a broad term. Whom does it encompass?
4. But once we've gone ahead and done that, shouldn't we have a real system in place to restore these rights, rather than asking judges (who are no more educated about mental illness than the average person in the street) to make decisions for which they probably do not have all the information?
5. Of course, any preferable system might well be hijacked in the other direction.
So, in short - I don't know.
( Read more... )
