What is a twenty year old doing

[Herlong]

that makes him think walking up to kindergardeners and shooting them is okay. This has nothing to do with gun control. This has every thing to do with future time bombs in our mists. Think about it.

[spanone]

1. his mother should have controlled her guns. this is about gun control

[Herlong]

4. Sorry spaone, I don't agree

Her mother was a victim on horrible parenting end of statement.

[Myrina]

6. What citizen needs a semi-automatic .22 for 'self-protection'?

Especially with teens in the house? That's a disaster waiting to happen, IMO.

[undeterred]

11. Especially when they are incredibly wealthy.

Did you see the size of the house which was awarded to her in the divorce? Apparently she thought she needed the guns because she was afraid of the coming economic collapse... you know, if Obama gets re-elected.

[NYC_SKP]

2. NCLB told him he should stay in school... eom.

[Herlong]

3. He was a nerd he did well in school…eom.

[Myrina]

5. I had an odd thought today ...

... humor me here ... the preponderance of these shooters are in their early/mid 20's ... 'loners', 'ADHD', 'autistic', 'shy' ... chances are that they've been on meds at some point - some probably since childhood. Might there be any long term correlations of doping up our children with all these mind-numbing chemicals that when they're 'off the meds', reality and emotions are just so overwhelming that they can't deal?

[Herlong]

7. What are we doing

To effectively address the realities the young people face. We can't just say gun control. Gun control. Gun control. We have to look a these youngsters and make sure we see them before it's too late.

[StarryNite]

18. I have to wonder the same thing.

For instance...
Ritalin and Cocaine: The Connection and the Controversy

Ritalin is the most commonly prescribed medication for ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). This treatment has helped thousands of people control their symptoms. But because Ritalin is a stimulant like cocaine, it may cause undesirable changes in the brain over time. It also has the potential for abuse.

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/addiction/issues/ritalin.html

[bluerum]

8. Oh. I.m convinced.

NOT.

Whatever he was doing, his parent(s) should have locked up their firearms.

Whatever he was doing, it should have included intensive medical (psychiatric) care.

Play misty for me again, won't you?

[LeftInTX]

9. He is an adult

After the age of 18 there is nothing that his parents can do for him. If he refuses treatment there is nothing his parents can do.

My father in law went insane, yes insane, and there was nothing we could do. It was the worst thing imaginable. We kept calling the police because he was violent. (He did not have access to firearms) After a few weeks, he swallowed an entire bottle of Digitalis. That was the end.

Having those guns around was a huge mistake.

[Herlong]

16. He is an adult

Who shot many bullets into five year old children. Something like this must give you pause about the generation we are raising. It can't be only about gun control can it. Look at them.

[undeterred]

10. Perhaps he was an undiagnosed schizophrenic...

Perhaps there is some psychiatric explanation that we will know about in a few days. Perhaps we will never know. It would be better if he were still alive so we could understand why he did this.

[Tobin S.]

12. More likely a psychopath.

But that doesn't quite fit, either. Psychopaths usually think too much of themselves to turn a gun on themselves. Lanza did shoot himself, didn't he? I have yet to read an official news story on the event.

[undeterred]

13. The age when the "first psychotic break" occurs can be around 20

and people can be pretty normal before that. Then they experience psychosis and are very dangerous.

Back when ER was on the air in the 90s they did an episode based on a true story in which a resident was stabbed to death in the emergency room by a patient who was seemingly worried about health issues but then became afraid the doctor was going to take his kidneys so he attacked him.

The doctor should have recognized the paranoia as a symptom.

Edit: Yes, Lanza shot himself when the police came to the scene.

[RainDog]

17. Eric, the Columbine shooter, fit a classic psychopath profile

he left a trail of evidence in his writings to indicate his complete scorn of everyone and had threatened to kill people in the past.

Dylan, his accomplice, was severely depressed and did just about anything Eric said - including a plan to kill people.

Beyond any "diagnostic" tho - people choose to follow others blindly all the time, into war, etc. with no mental illness. People are taught to view others as less than, all the time, and, as in the American example of slavery, had no problem treating others with complete scorn. Same thing with women throughout history - you know, they were property, they could be beaten, raped...

All of the people who went along with various horrible acts weren't mentally ill.

They were in a culture that made it okay to treat others as subhuman.

[riderinthestorm]

14. Adam Lanza's parents had every financial resource in the world to get him the BEST psychiatric care

This isn't about mental health care in the US since this guy demonstrably had the financial resources to get the finest help in the world.

This is about guns. Period. And access to them.

If he'd been psychotic, schizoid, on dope or something worse, and he hadn't been able to get a hold of a ton of firepower, there's no way we'd be mourning this many dead today. If Adam Lanza only had access to a couple of kitchen knives? Sorry, this would be a whole different story.

[bhikkhu]

15. The easier it is for "future time bombs" to acquire arsenals

the more damage they can do, and probably the more likely it is that they "go off".

I'd argue that the lack of effective gun regulations and the derision directed at any effort toward responsible regulation of weaponry makes it easier for one to plan an act of violence. It also makes it easier to imagine that being a "gun nut" is somehow an accepted role for one in society.