“Psychiatrists, using clinical judgment, are not much better than chance at predicting which individual patients will do something violent and which will not.”
– Jeffrey Swanson, professor of psychiatry at Duke University
After every mass shooting, people grope for answers to gun violence. Some say guns are the problem, and we need a massive overhaul of our Second Amendment rights. The Santa Barbara killer gave us a new twist as he stabbed three of his victims to death. The Sandy Hook murderer was prohibited by law from purchasing a gun, so he stole one and committed his atrocity anyway.
As always, gun-rights advocates remind us of another inconvenient truth: Had anyone near the shooter been armed, everyone, even the shooter, might have lived. It is depressing to watch mankind’s vain and futile proposals to control what is perhaps uncontrollable. Could any proposal truly eliminate or even significantly reduce these tragic deaths? What if the answer is one we don’t like?
