This simple equation explains our position with respect to situations like Aurora and Oak Creek.
If we want to do something to change things, there are only three options:
- Eradicate mental illness
- Eradicate deadly weapons
- Ensure mentally ill people don’t have access to deadly weapons
For #1 to work, every type of illness would need to be treatable. Furthermore, everybody would need to be regularly evaluated and treated if necessary to ensure nobody escapes the net. Given we’re still deeply divided on universal health care, universal mental care has a snowball’s chance in hell …
For #2 to work, we’d need to ban deadly weapons and ensure extremely strong enforcement of the ban. Given the strength of the gun lobby and our track record with enforcing drug laws, this one looks like a non-starter as well.
For #3 to work, we’d need to not only give up on our privacy but also hope that all potential threats can be detected/dealt with in time. Also, we cannot underestimate the resources needed to pursue potential threats to determine if they are legitimate or not. So this one too looks pretty bleak.
Folks, our only hope that we may yet solve the problem stems from the fact that I sucked at high school algebra …