The Aurora Incident (recant)

After much thought on the subject of the Aurora, CO incident, (and I mean much thought; thanks to the constant, and often repetitive, coverage), I have come to the conclusion that I must recant part of my original post. I believe what I posted was entirely premature. The information hadn't enough time to marinade, thus the lack of a logical perspective. When faced with such an incomprehensible act of violence, one should wait until the shock to wear off before coming to a conclusion. A lesson that I am still learning.

The Aurora Incident is currently the most talked about news story. A promising young man, (he and I are the same age), snaps. He pours months into planning a way to slaughter. Over six-thousand rounds are purchased. The apartment was rigged to blow. What does that to a person? And what really needs to change to insure it doesn't happen again?

I do not agree with my earlier statement. This needs to be politicized, not for campaign related soundbites, but for bringing about change. The fact that a civilian can build an arsenal in a few months with little to no regulation. I have no problems with people owning guns. The 2nd Amendment is an important one, but a mentally-ill individual should not have access to firearms. Easy way to accomplish this, monitor, what, how much, and how often these things (volatile chemicals, amno, firearms, anything that's for people hunting rather than home defence) are purchased and by whom. It's not a violation of constitutional rights; it's a safeguard against losing them.

Education concerning mental illness is severely lacking, and mental health problems carry a negative stigma because of it. You aren't sick; you're crazy, and that isn't the case at all. The human brain is soaked in a soup of chemicals that affect every facet of your life. Everything from trauma to biology can throw this cocktail out of whack, causing incredibly difficult challenges, and impossible if you don't have the support group. The current attitude towards mental health possibles makes people shy away from seeking help. A lack of affordable health care, and federal mental heath programs for low-income citizens is part of the problem as well. The unemployed and desperate, the ones who need the most help, are left to fester. Their problems mutate, gestate and give birth to monsters. Maybe not on this scale, but abusive behavior, addiction, and crime are all detriments to our species, and our products of a desperate, angry, hopeless society we are in the process of building.

This should be a lesson to us. We are human. We learn by being forced to extremes. We should all be fighting to squeeze the good out of this terrible event. Politicizing means talking about the issues, educating others, writing to legislatures, canvassing, voting, and, if it comes to it, protesting. Letting this opportunity pass, is not an option. If we don't seize this, it will only get worse, and no one wants that.

(This was brought on by both comments and talking to a few other people about it.)