Duo of States - Colorado and Connecticut - Lead on Reasonable Gun Control Legislation

Connecticut plus Colorado are only one twenty-fifth of our nations United States. They are as different as the magnificent Rocky Mountains are from the beaches of Long Island Sound.  

Connecticut joined the nation in 1778, and was one of the original 13 colonies.  Their state's representatives William Samuel Johnson and Roger Sherman signed the US Constitution in 1787, where the Second Amendment, allowing Americans to own guns, was  important enough to be listed second among the inalienable rights provided for all citizens.  

Colorado became a state in 1876, nearly a century after Connecticut was born.  It is a beautiful state, but the first settlers endured the rugged terrain, living side by side with cliff dwelling Native Americans and opportunistic gold diggers.  

Colorado and Connecticut don't have much in common, except for the first letter of their state's names.

Except, the two share the devastating experience of being where three of the most horrific gun violence incidents recorded in our nation's history occurred.  

1.  April 30, 1999- Columbine Colorado: 12 students and one teacher murdered by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Their massacre of innocent students sparked debate about gun control measures to protect against future incidents.  The shooting resulted in an increased emphasis on school security, and a moral panic aimed at goth culture, social outcasts, gun culture, the use of pharmaceutical anti-depressants by teenagers, teenage Internet use and violent video games.  

Nevertheless..... thousands of gun deaths later and on...

2.  July 20, 2012 - Aurora, Colorado:  A mass shooting by James Eagan Holmes in a crowded movie theater where 12 people were killed and 58 injured.  The lone suspect in this mass shooting has since exhibited suicidal behavior while in custody and has a history of receiving mental health counseling prior to the shooting spree.  

And then, following thousands more deaths by gun violence.....

3.  December 14, 2012 - Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut - Adam Lanza, 20, fatally shot and killed 20 students and six adult staff members in a mass slaying.

Make no mistake, all of the above deaths perpetrated by four evil intended mass murders were preventable deaths caused by gun violence.  Although the murderers pulled the triggers, the guns were the vehicles by which these deaths occurred   They were all preventable homicides. In the absence of guns and the ammunition needed to fire them, the victims of these shootings would likely be alive today because they were overwhelmingly young when they were murdered.  

Today, Colorado and Connecticut have led the nation by passing reasonable gun control legislation to offer innocent people some protection against future mass murders and gun violence.  Neither state created a utopia in passing gun control measures.  They also didn't take away Second Amendment rights from law abiding citizens.  But, the two states bravely did something to deter what has become a national epidemic of gun related deaths.

In spite of the National Rifle Association's control over right wing Republicans, who obsessively oppose gun control, two brave Democratic state governors defied the political risks associated with passing gun control measures to protect against future massacres.  Governor Dannel P. Malloy of Connecticut has joined his colleague Governor John Hickenlooper of Colorado to lead the nation in passing gun control measures to ban assault weapons, the deadly kind used to kill people in mass murders.  

Now it's time for the US Congress to follow the lead of these two very diverse states and their brave executive officers.  Our nation needs to stop the escalation of gun violence and, moveover, eliminate the blackmail of the NRA against politicians who dare to stand up for protections against mass murders who gain access to guns.  Shame on politicians who falls victim to NRA strong handed tactics, when these public servants are elected to protect the public from harm.  

It's time Americans vote all extremists out of office, but particularly the officials who put innocent citizens in harms way by putting the rights of mass murders to own guns above the public health of innocent people.

Mental Illness and Guns

It's entirely too simplistic to hear some people explain away the recent series of US school massacres by calling the perpetrators of the crimes "mentally ill". In fact, a the New York Times reports there's a misguided focus on guns and mental illness.

Of course, most people who commit heinous murder crimes are mentally ill, but their access to guns are the cause of the preventable casualties. 

Moreover, second amendment rights, allowing Americans to own guns, was never intended to provide easy access to weapons for people who intentionally want to harm children or innocent people. Mentally ill people are becoming innocent victims in these discussions, as though they're scapegoats for the problem of violence.  Mental illness has it's own set of issues, but gun violence is caused by too many guns! 

Meanwhile, trying to provide the mentally ill with treatment consistent with their acute and long term needs is more challenging than changing second amendment rights for the purpose of protecting innocent people from gun violence. Mentally ill individuals need support and monitoring for many years. Their care plans are expensive because there's no absolute "cure" for their illnesses. Often, the mentally ill learn to live with their symptoms by taking proper medication and living a healthy lifestyle. Nevertheless, in the absence of consistent follow up by community mental health workers, many fall off of their healing regimens.

In the recent Newtown Connecticut tragedies, the perpetrator of the crimes was called a "loner".

"The gunman, Adam Lanza, 20, has been described as a loner who was intelligent and socially awkward. And while no official diagnosis has been made public, armchair diagnosticians have been quick to assert that keeping guns from getting into the hands of people with mental illness would help solve the problem of gun homicides." Indeed, "gun violence" is caused by access to guns!

Mentally ill people who want to be compliant with their recovery often find themselves without any care because insurance cuts them off as soon as they are perceived as being "stable".  Those who have a criminal history wind up back in jail when they're unable to find mental health care in the community.  People who need inpatient care because of exacerbation of mental illness are frequently unable to find a hospital with an open bed to admit them, because many acute care facilities have cut the size of their units.

It's clearly impossible to provide all the mental health care needed to support everyone with mental illness.  Yet, it is possible to create gun laws to protect innocent people from being killed by assault weapons because a mentally ill or otherwise unstable person gained easy access to deadly guns. Let's take assault weapons out of circulation- make it illegal to own them, along with the ammunition they use.  Anyone found owning an assault weapon will be fined $10,000 per weapon and be charged with a felony. 

Delusional gun zealots believe an assault weapons ban is an infringement on their second amendment rights, but they, themselves, may be victims of a mental illness called "paranoia".

Common sense should be the focus of gun control. Sadly, in the absence of common sense, far too many innocent people are murdered. A culture of fear has been crafted by the National Rifle Association, convincing right wing extremists to believe guns are the solution against a government that's out to get them.  Well, these delusional zealots now have something to really watch for, because, it's not the government that's out to get them. Rather, it's the innocent people who are in harms way, every day, because we simply don't know who is accessing guns or for what nefarious purpose.  It's government's role to protect innocent citizens from being shot to death in massacres.  Treating mental illness is important; but keeping assault weapons out of circulation is far more "sane" than making an assumption that gun violence is a direct link with people who are mentally ill.