In the wake of the recent tragedy in Herkimer and Mohawk, the Governor and his minions are quickly drafting new laws to place new restrictions on the sale of shotguns. You won't hear about the legislation until it is signed in to law because, after all, this is an emergency. A Message of Neccesity will be required to pass the laws in darkness, and to avoid further gun violence. Nobody will care that the bill was passed without input from the public.
Of course I am joking (at least I hope). I really am becoming increasingly angry about the absolute disingenuous efforts of the State to impose on a fundamental constitutional right of the people to possess guns under the guise of protecting the public. It is such an obvious smoke screen. If anyone believes the NY SAFE act will save lives, I hope the tragedy in Herkimer has opened your eyes to reality. Mr. Myer's did not have an AR 15. He had a shotgun. And from what my gun nut friends tell me, the shotgun can often be the deadliest of weapons. Shotguns do not exactly make the neatest of holes in a human body.
The time has come to end the useless political circus tricks and focus on the needs of our mentally ill citizens.How many times do we have to tell you? Those of us who work within the criminal justice system have a proactive solution that may actually produce results without creating a new class of criminals (via new gun laws and infringing on our rights). The gun violence problem does not lie with the guns. It lies the freaking lunatics who decide they want to hurt people. We have a giant class of citizens with mental health issues that are completely ignored.
A large majority of my clients have mental health problems. Their cases generally get resolved by getting a dismissal or plea bargain in return for the client taking responsibly for their actions, and getting some medical help and treatment. The biggest challenge I often face with mentally ill clients is finding a place for them to get help. Most of these folks don't have insurance and don't qualify for Medicaid for some reason.
There are so man sick people out there who need help and have nowhere to turn. For example, I have a seriously addicted heroin addict client who truly wants to get treatment. He has no insurance and he is either turned away by free clinics, or told to come back in two weeks and in the meantime, of course he uses. I really think he is going to die.
Instead of spending god knows how much enforcing gun laws and the associated prosecutions, why don't we spend that money on helping the sick people who are the root of the problem. I hate typing in caps but I am going to do it right now.
IT IS ABSOLUTELY LUDICROUS AND RIDICULOUS THAT ANY AMERICAN, WHO IS SUFFERING FROM DRUG ADDICTION OR MENTAL ILLNESS, DOES NOT HAVE A PLACE TO GO WHERE THEY CAN GET IMMEDIATE TREATMENT AND NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT PAYING.
It is that simple. We need free mental health care, an open door in every city and town. Walk in and get help and not worry about the money.
