Mental illness and guns

[Charlotteman]

On Sept.2 , about 30 miles from my home, a mentally ill man, Issac Zamora went on a highway rampage killing six people. Tragically one of the six included a police officer, Deputy Anne Jackson. Others were shot and killed indiscriminately.

A while back private gun ownership was a hot topic on urbanplanet. This particular event hits me close to home, and I'm wondering if governmental authorities shouldn't be involved in tightening gun ownership--at least doing thorough background checks to keep weapons away from mentally ill persons.

You would think these kinds of tragedies would change some people's minds about the free wheeling gun culture in the States......

[kayman]

On Sept.2 , about 30 miles from my home, a mentally ill man, Issac Zamora went on a highway rampage killing six people. Tragically one of the six included a police officer, Deputy Anne Jackson. Others were shot and killed indiscriminately.

A while back private gun ownership was a hot topic on urbanplanet. This particular event hits me close to home, and I'm wondering if governmental authorities shouldn't be involved in tightening gun ownership--at least doing thorough background checks to keep weapons away from mentally ill persons.

You would think these kinds of tragedies would change some people's minds about the free wheeling gun culture in the States......

[Lowerdeck]

It is unfortunate that some people get a hold of guns and shouldn't.

On the other side of the spectrum, banning guns only disarms the innocent. I am all for having guns as long as we start closing loopholes like trade shows. We need stronger background checks, perhaps mental screenings, for potential gun buyers.

Unfortunately though, we will never stop the black market of guns. We will never stop senseless tragedies.

Just six weeks ago, a sheriff's deputy in Florida was murdered by an escaped mental patient. Escaped from a hospital twice in a 24 hour span, somehow got a hold of a gun, then barricaded himself in a house and started firing when the SWAT team shown up. With all that said... where are people like this getting the guns in the first place? We need an extra layer of gun law enforcement, and more rules to keep legal guns out of the hands of the unstable.