Guns vs. Mental Illness

I know I haven't been the first and I won't be the last but I feel I need to chime in about the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton Connecticut.

There are two arguments be waged in the wake of this tragedy. America needs tougher gun control laws. America has to do better at identifying and treating mental illness.

My position is they need both.

Things like this do not happen in isolation. Gun advocates say that guns don't kill people, people kill people. They are right. However, in many states, you can walk in and buy a gun and ammunition without a licence. You can use the weapon without a licence. Let's take a step back and think about a couple of things. Gun advocates always preach safe and responsible firearm usage. Although you can shoot at targets, ultimately these devices have a purpose; to wound ok kill. 

Guns can be used to wound or kill animals to harvest food or control pest populations. This is a safe and responsible use of firearms. Guns can be used to wound or kill individuals who are committing evil acts. I also believe this is a safe and responsible use of a firearm. So in my mind yes there are reasons to have access to guns.

When America amended its constitution for the second time and guaranteed the right to bear arms, I'm not saying they did a bad thing but they may have missed an important part. In my humble opinion they also should have demanded the responsibility of their citizens to learn how to properly and safely use the arms they have the right to bear. That may have changed things significantly from the past.

I do find it interesting that Americans do not have a right to own and use an automobile or an airplane. Both of these machines, like a gun, require a level of skill to operate safely and if that skill is not there, they can cause significant unintended consequences, up to and including premature death. So to drive a car and fly an airplane you must past at least two tests for each. You must pass a knowledge test and a skill test. In the case of an airplane you must also show you are retaining your knowledge and skill. This is a responsible approach to a potentially dangerous activity. Yet, Americans can just buy and use a gun. 

Now, here is where the mental illness issue comes into play. As it stands right now, someone who is not fit to drive a car or fly an airplane can still buy and use a gun. Yes, that's right someone who is not fit to use a machine designed to peacefully transport people and goods can still use a machine designed to wound and kill. To me something seems off kilter.

I'm not saying people should not have access to guns. On the contrary, if you are required to demonstrate a defined level of skill and knowledge then you should be free to have your weapon of choice. If you cannot demonstrate that you can use it safe and responsibly then you should not be permitted to use it.

Now, if you have severe enough mental illness that you would even consider walking into an elementary school and killing even one random child, there were previous signs. Friends and family should have been supportive and helped you get the assistance you clearly needed before it would ever escalate to this level. You can say that video games and movies filled with violence desensitize youth but I don't buy that. Not having the support to deal with the small problems before it rewires the brain is the problem. Allowing someone to become so self absorbed that they can walk into an institution intended for education and development and kill random people that they have never met is the problem. One of the best parts of being human is we are social. We enjoy interaction with other people. It's central to the human experience. Most people like to bring joy to others. If we are allowing some people to become the opposite of that, we are failing. 

I'm not suggesting that there should not be consequences for your actions. There should be and it is an important part of learning but not all consequences are bad and if you behave in a good manner you should be recognized appropriately. Everyone knows this will reinforce good behaviour. 

As we go forward you should only use machinery that you have the knowledge and skill to do so and try to make someone's life a little bit better and we will all benefit in the end. Frankly, the other option just isn't acceptable. 

Autumn

There are a lot of things to like about fall time. There is the relief from summer heat, the return to your routine, football, the changing leaves, and so much more. I like all of that that, in fact I generally like fall. How can you not. It has a lot going for it.

Despite all that's good about fall there is one thing I really don't like about it. I seem to get sick every fall. It only last a day or two but it seems to happen every year.

I, just like everyone else, doesn't like to be sick. It really is a good way to ruin your day. Starting late yesterday, I just started to feel worse and worse. I managed to limp through the workday. I wasn't as productive as I would like to have been or really needed to be. I did get some work done but not being 100% means it will take more time to get everything done that I should. I find myself concentrating on my general discomfort instead of what I'm supposed to be doing and I have to keep fixing my own work.

I'm not sure why I seem to get an annual shot of illness as we transition to winter. I try to take care of myself, after all, I'm not 20 anymore. But almost without fail, I have a day or two where I feel like garbage.

I like autumn. It has a lot to offer but it also seems to offer a couple of off days. I guess I will just have to power through it and get back to the good stuff.

Common Cold

I might have a cold. I'm not quite convinced but I might. Like everyone else, I think colds really suck. They suck for what they do to your body and they suck for how they don't really go all the way.

Nobody likes the stuffed up nose and coughing but unfortunately most colds aren't really bad enough to do you in and give up. When you have a cold you are forced to go about your day. You are not sick enough to call it quits but you don't really enjoy anything you do. You don't have your normal energy so everything seems to be such a chore.

If you get the full on flu at least to can concede defeat and quit living until you feel better. After the worst of a flu you may not be100% but you feel so much better you don't mind. With a cold you don't get the sense of journey and recovery. The cold just goes a way and you go back to normal, without a badge of honor to wear. You can't say I just survived the worst battle with the flu and I am still here.

However, not getting sick at all is the best option. Unfortunately that doesn't always seem to be how it goes.

I might have a cold and all colds suck.

Flu Scare

I'll admit there is a bit of a lead up to the point of this entry, stay with me.

A friend of mine hurt her back playing volleyball on Thursday evening. To make the story go a bit smoother lets call this friend "Jill." Now Jill really did a number on her back and the ever so helpful Doctor prescribed Tylenol 3 for the pain. Now I have taken T3's before and didn't like how they made me feel. I will live with a lot of pain to avoid taking them again. Apparently Jill has a similar reaction, however her pain was so bad she kept taking them. The combination of the pain and the medicine was causing her to puke, a lot. So after a couple of days of this she broke down and asked me to take her to the pharmacy to get something to calm her stomach down since she was getting rather weak from bucking her cookies for days now.

After the pharmacy we went to the Safeway next door to get some Gatorade so she could hopefully get some calories and fluid back into herself. She looked and felt like a bag of smashed apples. She was not doing well. So after roaming about the store we head to the till to pay.

This is where my story actually starts.

While waiting in line sickly Jill blurts out, "I just want to go home so I can puke in the privacy of my own bathroom."

The cashier responds, "Oh, are you hungover?"

I respond, "No she isn't feeling well but don't worry its not H1N1."

The cashier looked rather worried and a bit disgusted with my poor sickly friend. She pays for her stuff and we head off. As we are leaving the cashier showers her entire work area with hand sanitizer.

Paranoid a bit, are we?

Yes there is a pandemic. Yes it would suck to get sick. Yes you should take precautions. Yes Jill looked like death warmed over, but I'm pretty sure no one was going to catch back pain from her. It seemed a bit excessive if you ask me.

By all means protect yourself. Do what you feel is necessary to ensure your health is maintained. But I do suggest to try to be sensitive to others. I just found her rather rude. Her demeanour was standoffish. If you are hypersensitive, maybe a job interacting with the public all day is not for you.

This woman definitely had a flu scare.