America, Bipolar or just a Hypocrite

 (originally drafted New Year’s weekend)


The New Year has begun and we find ourselves still trying to cope, understand, rationalize and fear the violence that occurred during 2012. There was plenty of violence, including (but not limited to) the Colorado movie shootings, the Oregon mall shooting and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. They were not the only acts of violence, but unlike many others these received nationwide news media and Presidential attention. It seems simplistic when someone says that there are just evil and evil people in this world, but sometimes there isn’t anything else behind it.


I chose to wait a while before writing in hopes that some rational thinking would be able to fight its way to the spotlight. Plus, I wanted to wait for the funerals to take place and for the families and community to get through the holiday. I wish I could say that I was shocked when these acts occurred, but I wasn’t, I was saddened for those that lost loved ones and for the young lives that will never have a chance to reach their potential or to achieve their dreams. I also felt concern for those Public Safety and EMS personnel that had to deal with those incidents. As the days passed I began to get frustrated and then fed up! Finally I began to wonder if as a country are we bipolar or just plain hypocrites?

Every time there is a mass casualty incident or an act of evil that gets national (and international) media coverage the two sides RUN to a microphone and camera to take full advantage of a tragedy. I am so sick of the pro and anti gun sides beating their proverbial drums in order to take full advantage of our raw emotions, hoping that the emotions will override rational thinking which in turn will keep people from focusing on the real issue. The main issue, the one that has been relegated to the background is mental health. As a part of the mental health issue you have to deal with state laws that make it difficult to confine someone that may be a danger to themselves or others, and also that it is too easy for someone to be discharged once they are committed. We also don’t want to deal with parental and personal responsibility. Early reports said that the Sandy Hook offender’s mother was attempting to have her son committed, if this is true the problem isn’t that she owned guns or taught her son how to shoot. The true issue is if she believed that her son had got to a point that he should be confined, WHY did she leave her firearms where he would be able to gain access to them.

There are a number of ideas that are being talked about including a background check for all purchases, including individual and gun show sales. Unless you also include the problem of mental health in the discussion individual background checks will be useless because of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA has strengthened the privacy rights of the patient, to the point that if a minor is committed for treatment the doctors and treatment facilities will refuse to provide the parent information on the child/ patient’s condition or progress without the patient’s consent. The background checks available for the average citizen to run if they are selling a firearm will not indicate if a potential buyer has been committed unless that commitment was a result of a criminal act.

I am also fed up with those that scream and yell that the Second Amendment says that we have a right to own firearms, to bear arms, and the government can’t do anything about that right. Enough!! What the Second Amendment says is “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” OK, if you want to keep and bear arms in accordance with the Constitution prove that you are a member of a regulated Militia formed to protect the state, the modern day National Guard.

Every time gun control is raised, especially after such a tragedy, it demonstrates just how forward thinking our founders were. You see the Constitution can be amended, however, it is a deliberate process, and it’s the way it is in order to avoid emotions from ruling the day. Otherwise, we’d lock up anyone that has dyed hair or chain up the mentally ill regardless of any threat they posed to others. I asked in the beginning of this article if we as a country are bipolar or just plain hypocrites! Look at how we’ve reacted to such horrific events in recent times, let’s make it easy how about just this century.

During the summer of 2001 airline pilots were in the news a lot complaining how they were over worked, operating aircraft in a state of exhaustion. There were even stories of pilots falling asleep while at the controls of an aircraft in flight, we were told that such things were a common occurrence. The 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred and all of a sudden pilots were armed, these same people that are falling asleep at the controls during flight were given loaded guns. All they had to do is go through a course that law enforcement officers go through, WITHOUT any of the other training a law enforcement officer goes through regarding the use of deadly force and having to take a life. On top of all that, despite all of the training a law enforcement officer has, despite the years of experience, the pilot in command of an aircraft still has the final say as to if that law enforcement officer can carry their firearm aboard the plane.

Last month shortly after the Sandy Hook shootings people began to demand tighter and more expansive restrictions on firearms. In the next breath we were calling for teachers to be armed and more police officers to be put in schools. We’ve been complaining about a number of poor teachers, about bad and dangerous teachers that can’t be fired because of tenure, and now we want to put guns in their hands.

Also, the good teachers are stressed and finding it difficult to do their job, they’re inadequately paid and don’t have the time necessary to teach our kids and now you want to add the additional burden of also controlling a loaded firearm. When are they going to have time to train to safely handle a firearm and be able to hit what they shoot at?

One other thought about schools, many school districts have their own police force to protect schools. Over the past few years they have looked at doing away with those officers and putting the burden of responding to schools solely on the local police or sheriff’s department. Also, there are school districts that have their own police force that also have rules preventing local police or sheriff’s personnel from entering the school in response to an Active Shooter situation until a school police officer arrives. We want to restrict law enforcement’s ability to respond and handle situations, and then we criticize them for not being more aggressive. We don’t want guns anywhere around because a child can get hurt, then we want to arm teachers and principals.

Another point about the 9/11 attacks, we scream about police not respecting our rights and then we pass the Patriot Act. When the Patriot Act is about to expire we demand that it be continued, but that is a topic for another time.

So, in answer to the question, if as a country are we bipolar or just plain hypocrites? I say we are bipolar, otherwise our actions would have to be deliberate. As for our elected officials, I haven’t made up my mind about all of them. However, they aren’t all bipolar!

That’s My Opinion, What’s Yours