zlacker

If you believe that the shooter in this case was disturbed or had mental illness (I've seen no reports to conclude this, btw) then the first thing you would demand is 1) better mental health care facilities and treatments for the public at large and 2) universal health care systems to provide the least possible friction in accessing those mental health care services.

Also, you don't have to be either for banning guns or having no regulations at all. Instead, a compromise of allowing regulated gun ownership would be better.

>>king_j+(OP)
Is sanity really a possibility here? Sure, we don't have a diagnosis, at least yet, but I would say by definition this person was not sane. A mass shooting is no crime of passion.

It seems to me that there are two problems here. The first is that we suck at finding/handling the mentally ill. These mass shootings are rare, but the connection between crime and mental illness in this country is anything but.

The second issue is of course that we do a piss-poor job of keeping guns away from the people they need to be kept away from.

Ideally both issues should be tackled.

>>king_j+(OP)
We[1] need to begin tearing down the stigma of mental illness before better care can really have an impact.

[1] Canada/the US, at least; I'm not familiar enough with other cultures.

>>king_j+(OP)
If this was a mental illness issue and we agreed to provide better or universal mental health care, how would one have everyone who needed treatment submit to evaluation and treatment? Assuming we agreed upon and used professional guidelines to evaluate people's mental health.

Would people be coerced? Would it be voluntary? If voluntary, I suspect only a fraction of those who had serious issues would seek help. On the other hand, there would be serious issues with legally compelling people to be treated involuntarily, if they have not violated nay other major laws which would make their treatment compulsory.

>>jlgrec+i1
Are serial killers sane? Their crimes are not crimes of passion. Lots of serial killers kill complete strangers to them.

Do they get to plead insanity in court? Should they be sent to mental hospitals or prisons?

I'm not being facetious, I'm asking seriously, what definition of sanity are we running on here?

>>mc32+r8
A consultation with a mental health professional could be ethically made mandatory in the same way that background checks or eye examinations are made mandatory in an ethical manner. Requiring everyone to get their eyes checked would be unethical and probably illegal, but requiring people to get their eyes checked before being licensed to pilot a giant piece of metal down city streets is a-okay.

>>entrop+Gg
I would say there is no way in hell serial killers are sane. Are there those who actually suggest otherwise?

I don't care if they are placed in prisons or mental hospitals, so long as they are not set free. People who are interested in revenge will likely prefer they be sent to prisons, and those interested in helping the individual will likely prefer they be sent to mental hospitals. I don't care, so long as there is a lock on the door.

>>jlgrec+i1
In order for someone to be considered "insane" in court they have to have a mental illness so severe it prevents them from comprehending the nature and consequences of their actions.

Serial killers in general are perfectly aware of what they are doing, they just don't care about the judgement imposed by society on such actions and at the same time the personal payoff is too great to ignore.

>>lookAC+ur
Court smourt, the law can do as it pleases, though the guy is dead so that doesn't really matter here.

What we should be concerned with is how we as a society handle mental health as a medical condition, not as a legal defense. I am talking about early detection, treatment, and if necessary preemptive detainment, not about how we handle the people we who have already gone Rambo.

>>entrop+Gg
I'd say for the insanity plea there would have to be a certain amount of spontaneity about it. Serial killers are mostly methodical people who do plan their actions ahead of time, which is why the insanity plea won't work.

From what I've heard, it doesn't seem like the shooter in this instance had things planned.

I don't know though, lots of questions.