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For the moment we do not know very much about why Elliott
Rodger stabbed his three roommates to death and then shot and killed several
other people in Isla Vista, CA.
It did not, however, come as a complete surprise. Those near and dear to Rodger saw the signs and reported
them to the proper authorities.
According to The New York Post:
The
father and other family members had warned cops after seeing some of Elliott’s
creepy, suicide-and-murder-referencing videos online weeks before the spree,
the family’s lawyer said.
But
Santa Barbara sheriff’s deputies interviewed Elliott and found him to be no
threat.
Elliott
was a “perfectly polite, kind and wonderful human” without a history of guns,
said family lawyer Alan Schifman.
Lawyer Schifman also informs us that Elliott Rodger was
being treated by “multiple therapists.” Apparently, not very successfully.
We do not know anything about the therapies Rodger was
undergoing. We do not know what medications he was taking. And we do not know
whether any of the therapists warned the police.
Be that as it may, many commentators will conclude that the
fault lies with the NRA.
8 comments:
Absolutely right: the father of one of the victims is already quoted as blaming the NRA.
I question the accuracy of the lawyer's remark about "no history of guns," because all the weapons were in fact legally purchased and registered to the shooter.
Today's New York Times piece on this is quite interesting.
I've seen remarks that suggest the shrinks and the sheriff "have some explaining to do"
I'm not sure they do (not enough facts to know for sure).
But based on what we know--what could they have done that I would not have found fault with on police-state and due process grounds?
NRA is ok, and the idea of gun for everyone is excellent. The problem is, that some people are crazy. Therapists should do something ASAP ;)
Therapy may only help if a person is willing to be honest. I wonder how therapists deal with a client sharing aggressive or violent thoughts. I'm sure there must be some level of privacy and some level of requirement for reporting to authorities.
The more you demand by law that therapists break confidentiality, the more likely a client will keep quiet and leave no hints of his violent plans.
I wonder what sorts of "tests" can be used for gun-buyers? A waiting list won't help someone who is willing to plan for a long period of time.
In a land of individual rights, society has to be careful to take away rights until a crime has been committed.
If that's what we want, then we should accept "collateral damage" of civilian deaths when a mass-murderer gets his urges for abstract revenge.
Its all good and well to say some hero needs to have a gun to take out the bad guy who has a gun, but in reality, smart bad guys, especially bad guys who are willing to die are going to find a way to kill, regardless of how well armed we are collectively.
So whether a political terrorist like Boston marathon bombers, or resentful dateless young man with a gun and a death wish, I'm content to accept at some level accidents and madmen are somewhat interchangeable, and we just have to live with the reality we're not safe, and we may be dead before the day is over, so keep a clear conscience for your judgment day I guess.
And wielded multiple weapons, including: gun, knife, and BMW.
Was it a knife or a scalpel? Scalpels are notoriously the weapon of choice when taking a human life. They are exemplary of dual-use technology.
Ares Olympus commits the major error that will forever keep us from ever finding a solution that works (and many others are in that chorus--I single this person only as a conversational anchor.
Surely you have heard the story of the drunk on hands and knees searching for something in the street.
A passer-by asked what he was doing and got the answer that he had dropped his car keys and was looking for them. The PB could plainly see that the street was void of anything identifiable except the drunk.
So the PB asked "Where, exactly, did you drop your keys?" "Down there, by my car. But I see where your question is going--I came up here to look for them under this street-light because I can see so much better."
I have been in sweaty discussions about "What shall we do bout the destructive income taxes?" and "What must we do to get out of Việt Nam?"
For this, those, and myriad similarly phrased questions the answer is "I don't know, it may be hopeless, your question is weeks, years, generations, or centuries too late."
For years parents (including my parents--I am 75) aided, abetted or at least tolerated the development of attitudes, games, beliefs, and mores that summarize to "no respect for life", a belief and practice that says the best or only solution for dealing with aliens is to blast them out of the sky with atomic pistols, the best or only solution for dealing with people you are angry at is to blast them eyeglass-frame-mounted Gatling guns, in short all discomforts MUST be dealt-with in re-enactments of Elliott Rodger's afternoon.
I don't know, it may be hopeless, your question is weeks, years, generations, or centuries too late.
"...(and many others are in that chorus--I single this person only as a conversational anchor.)"
"...with people you are angry at is to blast them WITH eyeglass-frame-mounted Gatling guns, in short all discomforts MUST..."
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