Who's crazy?

Time and time again when our country faces the aftermath of another mass murder you hear choruses of people blaming mental illness for the shooting.  "We don't have a gun control issue, we have a mental illness issue."  OK, well either way, we have an issue.

I've heard it said by military folk that "if you believe military weapons are available to the general public, you don't have a clue what the military has for weapons."  That said, some very impressive stuff is available to the general public.  Consider for example this Barrett Barr M107A1 .50 BMG Centerfire Rifle.

I picked this out because its the most expensive semi automatic rifle Cabelas sells.  A fifty caliber bullet.  Easily a quarter mile range, probably a whole lot more.  A price tag of $12,000.  I have the feeling that one would want to make sure one's tree stand is solid before letting off a few rounds.  There are probably some people crazy enough to take this on a deer hunt.  But it's not really a hunting rifle.  Let's be honest about that.

Now, personally, I think anyone who buys such a rifle for hunting IS crazy.  But such weapons are not of the type responsible, and normal, hunters buy.

But if you want to sit back and take pot shots at a crowd of people from a thousand yards this is your gun.  The question is who would want to do that.

Well, apparently a certain number of people would.  If we define a person who is angry enough to kill as mentally ill, then I suppose we can say that we have a mental  illness problem.  But to blame that portion of the population that has a mental illness diagnosis for the mass murders that are taking place is misguided.  The vast majority of those with mental illness are not a threat to anyone except, in some instances, themselves.  

We have a mental illness problem.  Yes, we do.  People don't understand mental illness.  One issue is that people don't recognize the difference between a rage, and mental  illness.  When people fail to deal with their anger issues in a healthy manner they can spiral out of control into a rage, a violent, uncontrollable anger. Yet that is different than being bipolar, or depressed, or schizophrenic.  

The real issue we have regarding mental illness is the availability of mental health care and affordability of the same.  It can take months to set up an appointment with a psychiatrist, and a single visit can cost upwards of $500.  That's a challenge, especially if one does not have insurance that covers mental illness.

Should the mentally ill be allowed to purchase guns?  I can speak for myself.  I got rid of my guns under the counsel of my doctors.  "It has been clinically proven that one is more likely to die of a self inflicted gunshot wound if one actually has a gun."  It's just not a good combination to be depressed and own guns.  But I was never a threat to anyone else.

What I think is insane is allowing weapons such as the .50 caliber piece above to be so readily available.  Who needs such weapons?

Hunters do not.  Even those who want to have firearms for self defense do not.  I cannot imagine anyone being able to identify a 'threat' at a thousand yards and legitimately kill them in self defense.  And one hardly needs a fifty caliber rifle to defend one's self against an intruder in your home.  

If you're a drug lord in Juarez you may have need for one.  I wonder how much they spend at Cabelas?

There is a reason these are called assault rifles.  And not 'defense' rifles.  Or 'hunting' rifles.  Or even 'target' rifles.  It's because the only legitimate purpose for them is killing at a long range.  With overwhelming force.

Are the mentally ill buying such guns?  Well, there is an easy solution if that's the problem.  Require someone to submit to an mental health evaluation before allowing them to purchase such a weapon.  It won't work though, because we don't have enough psychiatrists and because the people buying these weapons are not mentally ill.  My guess is that aside from drug cartels, most of the people  buying assault weapons are merely gun enthusiasts.  They think its cool being able to blow up a watermelon at a thousand  yards.  

These same people, could they afford it, and were they available, might like to collect Abrams M1A2 tanks.

But back to the issue.  Who is really insane?  A bipolar person who is struggling to maintain a balance in their moods?  Or an entire culture that insists on making available weapons that have only one legitimate purpose, and that is killing at an incredible distance? 

Crazy world we live in.  You can buy some pretty incredible weapons online.  It's like making LSD available as an over the counter drug.  And people think I'm the crazy one.