June,1979. Almost three months on the job as a new police officer in a quiet Milwaukee suburb. I was waiting to meet another officer in the Municipal pool lot when the radio chirped, “Stop the blue taxi southbound on Santa Monica!” I answered, “What do you have?” No response. Then I see the blue taxi pass my location, pull out and stop the vehicle. The taxi driver bolts out of the car, I draw my weapon and hear him shouting, “She’s got a gun and is shooting herself.” I hear three gunshots and slowly approach the vehicle and find a female in the back of the taxi that had just shot herself twice in the chest and once in the head. Later, I find out that the woman had fled the scene of a murder where she had shot and killed her mother over a custody dispute involving her son. Further investigation revealed that the woman suffered from mental illness, but was out on the street since it was determined that she was not a danger to herself or others and had refused to voluntarily agree to treatment.
Mental health law in the United States was forever changed when the 1974 Wisconsin case, SCHMIDT v. LESSARD, 414 US 473 determined that the Wisconsin involuntary mental health commitment statute was unlawful. New standards were put into place to make it more difficult to place the mentally ill into in-patient facilities in order to protect their civil rights. The “must be a danger to themselves or others” doctrine was born and thereby incorporated into the law of the land. Every person’s civil rights must be protected, and thus, more and more of the mentally ill remain in mainstream society. The homeless that wander the streets of cities are not there simply because they have no home, the majority of them are homeless because they are mentally ill and cannot be forced into a treatment program unless they voluntarily agree.
The tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut is difficult to understand. Any time children are placed in harm’s way, our parental instincts are awakened. We lash out in an effort to place blame and search for a way to prevent our precious children from ever becoming targets again. Some use events such as this as an opportunity to gain a political advantage. Gun control legislation is proposed as a way to prevent needless tragedies. Eliminate assault style rifles and large capacity magazines, they proclaim. These will never be solutions. They will only placate a small minority of those who want to infringe upon other’s constitutional rights. There is a reason that the 2nd Amendment is the only Amendment that states that it “shall not be infringed”. That means that no law shall prohibit any United States citizen from purchasing and owning firearms, period!
One only needs to look at the mental health of just some of the mass shooters in the United States since Columbine, on April 20th, 1999 to ascertain the root cause of these tragedies.
Columbine, Colorado, 1999 - Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, two troubled youth, outcasts in their school, apparent victims of bullying, avid gamers with DOOM being the predominant game, both were prescribed anti-depressants and both showed an anger against society. Obviously, their mental health was questionable.
Virginia Tech, 2007 – Seung-Hui Chung, diagnosed with a severe anxiety disorder and posted rambling and threatening videos on YouTube. He refused recommended mental health treatment and was allowed to remain on the street.
Fort Hood, Texas, 2009 – Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a psychiatrist who exhibited bizarre behavior and shared an email correspondence with a known militant Islamic cleric. Political correctness apparently kept him from being reported and evaluated. Even though this event was declared a workplace violence incident, it is obvious that a mentally ill man, influenced by radical Islam, committed an act of terrorism. Needless to say, the military prohibited weapons within the Fort Hood base, a fact that greatly influenced the casualty count, since no one could properly defend themselves.
Tucson, Arizona, 2011 - Jared Loughner, a paranoid-schizophrenic who, according to friends, never appeared violent.
Aurora, Colorado Theatre, 2012 – James Holmes, due to on-going court proceedings, little is known about Holmes mental health, although his plea is not guilty due to mental disease or defect.
Oak Creek, Wisconsin Sikh Temple, 2012 – Wade Michael Page, a white supremacist, who was given a general discharge from the Army, also evidenced unusual behavior that was reported by neighbors after the incident.
Brookfield, Wisconsin, 2012 – Radcliffe Haughton, involved with a number of reports of erratic behavior at his home in Brown Deer, Wisconsin. He was not arrested after it was determined that he was not a threat to himself or to others.
Let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that we somehow, can close Pandora’s Box, and make this all go away by eliminating or restricting gun ownership. The root cause to almost all of these tragedies is the system in place to address the mentally ill. As a police officer, I transported numerous individuals to the Milwaukee Mental Health Facility on involuntary mental health commitments, only to have them released before I had completed all of my police reports. Unfortunately for some, guns themselves do not kill, but some that are mentally ill do possess the ability and mindset to commit these grave acts of violence. The only way to truly help minimize our exposure to future senseless acts of violence like these is to make certain that the mentally ill are treated for their own good and for the good of society.
