Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Guns and Mental Health

No this is not about Adam Lanza, Holmes or Loughner. This blog is about me, someone with a manic-depressive illness diagnosis. I am considered mentally ill, and I know how to shoot a gun.

I have shot a 22 and a Glock. I shot a small rifle and my dad wanted me to shoot his Winchester Rifle, but the kickback is too strong.

At any rate, I went shooting with my husband and brother-in-law who is a former police officer. I realized my eyes could not focus on a bright orange target from 10 feet away. Realizing after that, I visited my physician and he flatly asked me if I wanted glasses to see, and my eyes had 20/20 vision. But he sent me to a specialist that did find anything wrong except my optic nerve. So then I visited the neurologist who examined me after my MRI - two of them in fact - and said my optic nerve had a "kink" in it, and there was nothing I could do about it.

But the powerful use of guns is not a way to solve any issues. At least I know as a "mentally ill" person, that guns can only protect so much.

For mass shootings, bashing mentally ill will not stop this problem. Watching out for "lone wolves" is not going to work, and restricting guns will fail, too.

What stops shootings at schools are physical barriers with a well defined parameter. But do we want any "barriers" at schools?

I think perhaps having technology and innovation to help us, might prove beneficial.

Why aren't assault rifles "chipped"? Everything else has an RFID, why aren't all assault rifles have smart technology that controls the ability to fire it within city limits difficult without proper permits?

The comedian, Chris Rock, asked why can't the gun permits to be just as difficult as a mortgage in escrow? I do not think criminals care about permits.

But we have chips on everything we do, like our smartphones that you might even be using to read this...

The guns won't work in the city and once you go out hunt feral animals, well... Isn't that what we use assault rifles in the country for?



And then why are we continually forcing our children to go to a brick and mortar type school when they are learning on the computer anyway? WTH? We can put a computer and upgrade them for the lives of our children. The social interactivity can occur by experiential learning and independent study plan.

But I'm mentally ill, who would listen to me.