That's a really, really good point about the mental illness and being a danger to one's self. I mean, like you said - if it was declared IN COURT, it should have been on his permanent record and he should have failed the background check. He might still have been able to get the guns anyway - or he might have gone some other route - but that's moot just now, because he DID get the guns, with no trouble.
And also, yes, you're totally right about the state of his mind. I said this in response to a comment someone made on my rather messy post on the subject yesterday, but despite having a paragraph dedicated to how angry I am about it, I also feel very deeply for him. And actually, since writing that paragraph and venting the anger (which I don't think was exactly at him, just more sort of - there), I feel even more sorry for him and a lot less angry. I know people tend to feel like, when gunmen shoot themselves, they're cheating the system because they can't stand trial and be punished for their crimes - but what punishment could they have given this kid, whose daily life seems to have been punishment already? I'm not saying "he's better off dead", exactly, only that he didn't cheat anything; his life and his death weren't happy ones. It's sad how it ended for him and even sadder that he had to take so many people with him.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels sorry for Cho. I haven't expressed it in my own lj yet (although I plan to make a post about it soon), but after my anger subsided, now all I feel is compassion and sadness for him. His life must have been a living hell. After reading his "manifesto" and seeing those pictures and movies that he sent to NBC the other day...that just confirms how mentally disturbed he really was. When I watched the video, I cried. I cried for his victims, but I cried mainly for him. For someone to be that mentally ill...it really is torture to be alive. He must have felt so alone, so miserable, so awful. I wish he could have gotten help before it was too late, and I really wish he didn't have to take so many people down with him. He didn't have to kill all those other people so he could find peace. But I hope he has peace now, regardless.
Yes. I also hope that his family finds peace, and that they are never, EVER blamed for what happened. Because they are at the most risk of blame from the hurting victims and families.
Yeah, I'm going to copy and paste part of what I wrote in response to a post of fossilofxanga, about the mental health issue:
"What there really needs to be is a better system of mental health care. There was a great speaker on CNN last night who talked about his own struggles with his son, who was bipolar and really went off the deep end (actually wearing tinfoil on his head to listen to the voices in the TV, believing in conspiracy theories). The man took his son immediately to the ER, but they said they couldn't treat him unless he had threatened harm to himself or to someone else (which of course the son denied at the ER). So the man wrote a book about this, and talks with other parents who have also struggled. After the publication, the son has another "breakdown." And again, even though he had "lots of connections" through his work in the area, he could not get his son committed. So he lied and said that his son threatened to kill him.
He made some fantastic other points: that it costs $500 per night for a bed in a psychiatric facility but only $89 per night to maintain a bed in prison. And of course the hugely high rate of mental illness among the incarcerated is well known (and the rate of homeless people with mental illness -- many of them were in psychiatric facilities before the Reagan administration cut funding and now they're literally on the street). And it does seem true that mental illness is not taken seriously until a crime is committed, and then of course they're treated as a criminal rather than a psychiatric patient. Because it's cheaper to put them in prison rather than treat them."
So I think the best place to direct our anger is at the mental health system in this country (and in other countries -- heck, we're considered ADVANCED in that arena, yet we still have so much more to do!). So that we can treat people BEFORE, not after, they become criminals.
I've always been appalled by the way America treats mental illnesses. When I was little, my mom and I weren't able to be on my dad's health insurance plan because we were diagnosed with depression and it wasn't covered under my dad's health insurance. None of our pysch visits, medications, nothing. And my dad actually had pretty decent health insurance. It was freakin' discrimination!
I think we need to work on the mental health care system. Stop treating mental illnesses like they're taboo and start talking about them, making them mainstream discussions. If less people are ashamed of them, less people will hide them and more people will get help. As it stands now, everyone is afraid to admit they have a mental illness because of the stigma against it.
Yeah, we pay a fortune for our psychiatric drugs (everyone in my family is diagnosed with ADD, and we've struggled with other issues, including depression and OCD). When I went abroad, I was told that the NHS coverage wouldn't cover mental health stuff. I was able to get my meds there (since I had a prescription from a doctor in the States, and then I had an appointment with a doctor there), and only pay the regular co-pay. But still, it's horrible that it wasn't covered.
And also, yes, you're totally right about the state of his mind. I said this in response to a comment someone made on my rather messy post on the subject yesterday, but despite having a paragraph dedicated to how angry I am about it, I also feel very deeply for him. And actually, since writing that paragraph and venting the anger (which I don't think was exactly at him, just more sort of - there), I feel even more sorry for him and a lot less angry. I know people tend to feel like, when gunmen shoot themselves, they're cheating the system because they can't stand trial and be punished for their crimes - but what punishment could they have given this kid, whose daily life seems to have been punishment already? I'm not saying "he's better off dead", exactly, only that he didn't cheat anything; his life and his death weren't happy ones. It's sad how it ended for him and even sadder that he had to take so many people with him.
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"What there really needs to be is a better system of mental health care. There was a great speaker on CNN last night who talked about his own struggles with his son, who was bipolar and really went off the deep end (actually wearing tinfoil on his head to listen to the voices in the TV, believing in conspiracy theories). The man took his son immediately to the ER, but they said they couldn't treat him unless he had threatened harm to himself or to someone else (which of course the son denied at the ER). So the man wrote a book about this, and talks with other parents who have also struggled. After the publication, the son has another "breakdown." And again, even though he had "lots of connections" through his work in the area, he could not get his son committed. So he lied and said that his son threatened to kill him.
He made some fantastic other points: that it costs $500 per night for a bed in a psychiatric facility but only $89 per night to maintain a bed in prison. And of course the hugely high rate of mental illness among the incarcerated is well known (and the rate of homeless people with mental illness -- many of them were in psychiatric facilities before the Reagan administration cut funding and now they're literally on the street). And it does seem true that mental illness is not taken seriously until a crime is committed, and then of course they're treated as a criminal rather than a psychiatric patient. Because it's cheaper to put them in prison rather than treat them."
So I think the best place to direct our anger is at the mental health system in this country (and in other countries -- heck, we're considered ADVANCED in that arena, yet we still have so much more to do!). So that we can treat people BEFORE, not after, they become criminals.
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I think we need to work on the mental health care system. Stop treating mental illnesses like they're taboo and start talking about them, making them mainstream discussions. If less people are ashamed of them, less people will hide them and more people will get help. As it stands now, everyone is afraid to admit they have a mental illness because of the stigma against it.
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