U.S. needs a prescription for gun control -- Commentary by Robert Reich

[Up2Late]

(When a seriously depressed person requires an antidepressant, he needs a doctor's permission. If a person wants to buy a gun, he needs only two forms of ID. Commentator Robert Reich has some thoughts about that.)

"Marketplace" Commentary by Robert Reich
Wednesday, April 18, 2007

U.S. needs a prescription for gun control

ROBERT REICH: In the United States, if you're seriously depressed, you can buy anti-depressive drugs — but only if you have a prescription from a doctor. Anti-depressants are enormously beneficial to millions of people, but they're also potentially dangerous if used improperly. So, you have to see a doctor and get an assessment before you can go to a drug store and purchase one.

But in the United States, in places like Virginia, a seriously depressed or deranged person can walk into a store and buy a semi-automatic handgun and a box of ammunition. All you need is two forms of identification. You don't need permission from a doctor or counselor or anyone in the business of screening people to make sure they're fit to have a gun.

We can debate the relative benefits and dangers of anti-depressants and semi-automatic handguns, but if 30,000 Americans were killed each year by anti-depressants — as they are by handguns — it seems likely that anti-depressants would be even more strictly regulated. So why aren't handguns?

(edit)

...Look abroad and you have another useful point of contrast. In the United States, many people who are seriously depressed can't afford to see a doctor, let alone get a prescription. Unlike every other advanced nation, we do not provide universal health care, or ready access to mental health services. But unlike every other advanced nation, we do allow just about anyone to buy a handgun.

Robert Reich teaches public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He was labor secretary under President Clinton. (more and audio version at link)

<http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/04/18/PM200704184.html>

[Irreverend IX]

1. This is a mental health issue at its core, not a gun issue.

The shooter at VA Tech should have been institutionalized and treated until a psychoanalyst could present him with a clean bill of mental health. He should have been arrested and/or expelled several times over, what with all the stalking and the incident of arson. His commitment to an institution should have showed up in the NICS database and made it impossible for him to buy a firearm. This last point is a flaw in the communications between mental health care providers and the FBI (maintainers of the NICS database), not a problem with the gun laws themselves.

The authorities let this guy slide time after time after time. I understand why they did it; colleges are super-paranoid about bad PR and will try to sweep any problem under the rug. Regardless of firearms policy, violently insane people will continue to cause mayhem until an effective system to keep track of them and get them treatment exists.

[bluerum]

2. At a minimum, it is both a law enforcement issue and a mental health issue.

Anyone, including someone with severe mental illness can walk into a gun store and buy a gun. How is that a mental health issue?

Granted the gun buyer was ill, but it is the regulatory law that allows the purchase.

At some point you need to be realistic and separate the two issues. Mental illness is real. Poor regulation and poor enforcement is real.

You seem all to willing to admit that mental illness is part of the problem. Now take the next step and try to understand how the nations ineffective gun laws contribute to the problem.

edit - language.

[Irreverend IX]

4. He had been committed to an institution.

That's supposed to disqualify him from buying a firearm per the NICS law. The problem is that the information on his involuntary commitment was never added to the NICS database. The law is just fine; what needs to be improved is the communication between NICS and the mental health system.

[bluerum]

5. The law is weak and lacks teeth. If there is voluntary information

on the form, it should be verified before the sale is completed. If it can't be verified, the sale should be contingent upon an investigation of the specific circumstances.

If I am trying to buy a gun and someone asks me if I am a felon or if I have ever been confined against my will, am I going to say yes?

Give me a break. What a farce.

edit sp.

[Irreverend IX]

6. The NICS check verifies the information.

Do you really think gun sellers automatically believe whatever a person writes on the form? They have to make a phone call to the NICS office every time, give the buyer's name and location, and get the go-ahead to sell. Often times, people are denied for even having the same name as a felon and they have to talk to their local police department to correct the error.

However, this case and others I've heard of suggest that mental illness information is not kept up-to-date in the NICS system nearly as well as a person's criminal history. That's what needs to be changed. If the NICS system were working like it's supposed to, it would have been impossible for Cho to buy his guns.

Also, think about the weeks of planning this guy put into his crime, the carefully crafted information packet, etc. If he had been denied at the gun store, he would have found a way to get a weapon. If you can find a coke dealer, which is easy on any non-Brigham Young college campus, you're most of the way to finding an illegal gun dealer. He should have been expelled and committed to an institution for the long haul before any of this could have happened.

[bluerum]

9. Again, how long after he walks out of store is the info verified? If it

was in fact found to be false why was there no action taken?

The law is weak, full of enforcement loopholes, and nearly useless.

[Up2Late]

8. "He had been committed to an institution???" And what Institute is that?

You seem to know quite a bit about Gun Laws, but I can tell that you know almost nothing about the current state of the "Mental Health System" in this country.

There is not an institution in this country anymore, that would take this kid for more than a few days.

If you do want to learn more about the current state of the Mental Heath System in this county, you should check out the video and website for this 2005 FRONTLINE program called "The New Asylums" which shows what is currently one of the BEST "institutions" for people like this kid, the Ohio Correctional System.

The Web Site:

<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/asylums/>

The Video:

<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/asylums/view/>

The Transcript:

<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/asylums/etc/script.html>

Or, if you prefer Radio, you should here this program and hear what this Father had to go though to get Mental Health Treatment for his Son, who had a very similar Breakdown while at Collage.

How to Find Good Mental Health Care for Children

Listen to this story...(at link below)

Talk of the Nation, May 16, 2006 · Children who suffer from depression often perform poorly in school and may have difficulty in college. Guests explain the importance of providing good mental health care for children, and offer tips on what questions parents should ask.

Guests:

Pete Earley, author of Crazy: A Father's Search Though America's Mental Health Madness; former reporter for The Washington Post

Raymond Crowell, clinical psychologist; vice president of the National Mental Health Association

Dr. David Fassler, practicing child psychiatrist; clinical professor at the University of Vermont

<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5408856>

[greyghost]

3. Well said...

Once committed, and he was committed, it should have been impossible for him to buy a weapon.

Privacy rights should not matter when dealing with potentially dangerous individuals.

[Demeter]

7. It Depends On Your Goals

If your goal is to have a happy, healthy, productive Citizenry, then Robert Reich has hit the nail right on its head.

If your goal is to put a gun in every hand, then he's totally off the wall.

Maybe we ought to re-evaluate our goals!