Looks like the NRA made a big mistake in denying background checks. Sandy Hook

[applegrove]

families, & other victims, are going to change the world. I heard on Anderson Cooper's show on the families today that some people on the right didn't want research into bad apples in the past, afraid that it will give criminals an excuse when they do wrong they say. Well Sandy Hook families are going straight to the heart of the matter. They will fund research into mental illness. And look below. Look how many ways they are making the world such a better place.

Newtown charities raise $27 million in wake of tragedy

By Daniella Silva, NBC News

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/14/21875236-newtown-charities-raise-27-million-in-wake-of-tragedy?lite

[Decaffeinated]

1. If they didn't get it done last year...

... They won't get it done now.

[applegrove]

4. I think they're going deeper than instituting background checks. They're going

at the science behind the mental health of spree shooters. I'm sure that will lead to science behind all sorts of bad apples and people with illnesses. It will have effects for all types of crimes. And like all cults, the GOP will surely hate the study of mental health. Not allowing for background checks after Sandy Hook, especially after such an escalation of shootings, BIG MISTAKE!

[davidn3600]

8. Mental healthcare is a disgrace in this country

The NRA actually isn't incorrect, even though they may be using the issue to deflect.

Mental healthcare is a complete mess in America. People and families of people who are seriously mentally ill have very few resources to turn to.

[Mojorabbit]

28. Yes it is and half of the gun deaths could possibly be prevented

if people have access to treatment. I hope the aca helps with this along with this funding.

[NYC_SKP]

2. Here's a very thoughtful slideshow with picture and a little bit about each victim.

Huffpost, unfortunately, but worth the visit.

Look for the slideshow after the text part of the article.

http://huff.to/18JjBGO

,

[applegrove]

10. Have you started a new thread with this link? Very, very sad.

[NYC_SKP]

12. Good idea.

Thanks, applegrove!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024179241

[Duckhunter935]

3. both sides are raising money

NRA fundraising since Newtown massacre breaks records

It raised $10.2 million through Sept. 30 -- $1 million more than the organization collected in all of 2012

http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/NRA-fundraising-since-Newtown-massacre-breaks-4981889.php

I am sure the other gun rights groups are also.

I wish both sides would put that money to good use but assume it will not happen

[BainsBane]

5. Obviously they will always raise more

The NRA is the mouthpiece for the corporate gun lobby. They don't need donations from ordinary people.

Felons, abusers, and the criminally insane will be safe to have access to guns, just like the NRA and its believers want. Children will continue to die and gun companies will continue to profit. This is the world the gun lobby made. As long as death is profitable, gun violence will continue unfettered. The beast shall be appeased.

[Packerowner740]

15. "Felons, a users, and the criminally insane will be safe to have access to guns,

Just like the NRA and it's believers want."

Why do you believe this?

[applegrove]

6. But the gun rights groups are not going to study the mental health of

perpetrators. They'll study how they can get more NRA members and such. They totally miscalculated.

[aikoaiko]

7. I thought the NRA was fine with blaming Newtown on mental illness,

[applegrove]

9. But not with studying the causes of certain actions. NRA and the GOP are cultlike

in that they like their followers ignorant. Studying the mind/brain, from the Sandy Hook Angle, will do the opposite of that. You do what you gotta do and this Sandy Hook and other families will.

[aikoaiko]

11. Sounds like they're following an NRA suggestion.

[applegrove]

13. On Anderson Cooper's show on Sandy Hook families tonight he mentioned

that people on the right didn't want study of criminals because it might give criminals excuses when they go to court. That's what they say at least. I'm sure having the tools of the cults to themselves, with their social engineers use all the time and the NRA is a part of that, is not something they want to give up any time soon. But Sandy Hook families will look into what influences such mental sick kids. And it is all related to bullying too. Psychopathy. And it is all related. And it will all be looked into in a public way. And the results, unlike intel the GOP garners, will be shared with the world. That is the point. That is what the GOP will hate.

[Live and Learn]

26. +1 nt

[Packerowner740]

14. It's a shame that they are the ones that have to fund the research

[applegrove]

16. Well Obama has funded research on the brain. There are new studies coming

out every day. A lot is being done. But linking Sandy Hook, spree shooters and research should open doors and funding. And make sure that the research reaches the ground everywhere where disturbed youth are found, instead of staying in ivory towers.

[world wide wally]

17. The ironic thing about mental illness is that just about anyone carrying a gun can probably be

diagnosed as paranoid… so they ARE mentally ill.

[nolabear]

18. Hardly. I am strongly in favor of massive control but

A diagnosis isn't an opinion. It's specific criteria met to the best of the professional's ability to understand, and having a gun meets nothing.

[Tx4obama]

19. Obama Admin Allocates $100 Million (increase) for Mental-Health Services

Obama Admin Allocates $100 Million for Mental-Health Services

Mental-health facilities and providers will receive a $100 million increase in federal funding, Vice President Joe Biden announced Tuesday.

The Health and Human Services Department will award $50 million to community health centers to establish or expand services for people living with mental illness or addiction. The Agriculture Department will finance the other $50 million for the improvement or establishment of mental-health facilities in rural areas.

"The fact that less than half of children and adults with diagnosable mental health problems receive the treatment they need is unacceptable," Biden said in a press release. "The President and I have made it a priority to do everything we can to make it easier to access mental health services, and today's announcements by the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture build on that commitment."

The announcement comes one year after the deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., which left 20 students and six adults dead.

The president has also proposed an additional $130 million in his 2014 budget for teacher training and awareness about the signs of mental illness in youth, but that funding is subject to congressional approval.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/health-care/obama-admin-allocates-100-million-for-mental-health-services-20131210

[applegrove]

20. That is fantastic. I take it it is on top

of the billion dollars Obama instituted last year for studying human perceptiveness.

[Tx4obama]

21. AND ALSO four months ago another 100 million extra for veterans mental health

Four months ago
Obama's $100 million to support vets' mental health
Here: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Obamas-100-million-support-vets-875967.S.265311861

AND I don't know what was in the budget The House just passed but Obama asked for an EXTRA 235 million in the budget he proposed.

Article from April 2013
Exclusive: Obama budget includes $235 million in new mental health spending
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/09/exclusive-obama-budget-includes-235-million-in-new-mental-health-spending/

So, that looks like 435 million more than last year altogether.

[applegrove]

22. "Obama Seeking to Boost Study of Human Brain"

Obama Seeking to Boost Study of Human Brain

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/18/science/project-seeks-to-build-map-of-human-brain.html?_r=0

It is actually 3 Billion over 10 years.

But yeah. The NRA just turned Sandy Hook families and others into accepted stakeholders in the study of spree shooters.

[Tx4obama]

23. 3 different allocations. Your link - Brain study. My links veterans & regular mental health services

[applegrove]

24. I think they all tie in to how to stop spree killers. I'm agreeing with you. Obama

has done lots. But something that tells you how a bully perceives things might help temper if not stop bullying which could be a factor in spree shootings as bullied kids get angry and lash out. Or perceived persecution certainly ties into this, which would then tell you lots about not just paranoid spree shooters, but also about people who think the government is coming for their guns. The brain is a big 3D melange with many, many meanings as you look at it from different perspectives. System upon system upon system resulting in behaviour. I'm saying the Sandy Hook families have "got this" in regards to working back from spree shooters. That is their perspective on all the science to come out. And it will do much to clarify who we are as human beings. Not what any cult, like the NRA, wants.

[JDPriestly]

25. K&R. It is encouraging that Newtown is dealing with their tragedy by doing something very positive.

[pipoman]

27. seems more the fault of congress/Senate

But actually probably not their fault either...since the only gun sales not required to have a bg check are private individuals selling to other private individuals living in the same state, Congress knows that even if they did get those transactions required to have bg checks at the federal level, it would almost certainly be overturned by SCOTUS.

Private sale checks can be required, and can pass constitutional challenges if passed at the state level. The best the federal government can do is make nics available to private sales, opening t door for states to enact requirements for private sale bg checks.

That said, reconstructing a mental health services infrastructure torn down by raygun would be a great action which would undoubtedly reduce many mental illness related issues in our society. .