Michael1942's Blog

The recent and near recent mass shootings have many people and politicians commenting on what needs to be done but all of this is played out in the media. The questions to be answered are simply: how do we prevent something like this from happening again? what can we do to prevent it? and what laws are needed to prevent the ownership of “so called assault” weapons? Taking each one in turn: The prevention of the 2 most recent have to do with mental illness, each of these two young men have a history of some mental differences not always problems but differences. Could early identification of their illness prevented their eventual actions, perhaps. Second: Would new laws on firearm  ownership or purchase make a difference? maybe. Third: Should assault weapon ownership and purchase  be severely restricted? Maybe if properly done.  Current firearm laws do not address the possibility of the purchaser or owner having an existing mental defect. The mental aspect is a bigger issue since there is no way to determine if a buyer or owner is mentally fit except under examination by a physician. The ban or restriction on assault or large capacity magazines weapons is a viable option along with the mental issue but these two items require a proper legal solution not a knee jerk one.