Rethinking Suicide Prevention Strategies using more gun control. Really!

More intrusive Big Government and gun control in the name of suicide prevention! Again and again suicide prevention is used as a pretext by demagogues!

Trying to restrict the means to commit suicide does not really prevent suicide!

What about providing better social and health services?

What about more education about suicide prevention? 

"As researchers look for better ways to prevent suicide, more are looking beyond pinpointing those most at risk—and looking closer, instead, at how to make lethal methods harder to access.

This has led to erecting bridge barriers [???] and prescription guidelines. But limiting access to guns is one of the most promising approaches [???]. Firearm suicide accounted for more than half—28,000—of all suicide deaths in the U.S. last year.

“That’s the one that will save the most lives,” said Paul Nestadt, the Johns Hopkins Center for Suicide Prevention’s medical director.

Red flag laws [???] are a start, allowing authorities to temporarily remove firearms from people deemed at risk.

More needs: Permitting requirements, waiting periods, and safe-storage laws have also been linked to lower firearm suicide rates."

Global Health NOW: New Male Contraceptives on the Horizon; and Rethinking Suicide Prevention Strategies

An assassination with a rifle and scope at long distance is not gun violence

Some fools want us to believe that the assassination of Charlie Kirk was an act of gun violence and due to lack of gun control! This is absurd!

Anyone, who makes such or similar claims is likely a contemptible demagogue!

The assassination of Charlie Kirk was a well planned, cold blooded murder!

Keep that in mind next time!

The Rise of Untraceable Firearms made from kits

How serious is this issue?

"One in five crime-related guns on Baltimore’s streets are now “ghost guns”—firearms that don’t have serial numbers and are built from parts.

Guns made of parts from Polymer80—one of the largest makers of ghost gun parts nationwide—are recovered more than brands like Glock and Taurus, per a Baltimore Banner analysis.

This week, Baltimore officials announced they reached a $1.2 million settlement with Polymer80 that effectively ended the company’s business in Maryland. But keeping such guns off the streets remains an uphill battle. ..."

Global Health NOW: Mexico City’s Water Problem; The Rise of Untraceable Firearms; and Deadly Distracted Driving

Bloomberg School of Public Health: Firearm Forensics on Trial. Really!

The leftist propaganda Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is spreading junk again in their quest to prevent "gun violence"! Here is another hit piece!

So called "gun violence" is by itself an ideological oxymoron! Guns like tools are not violent!!! It is the human who misuses a gun who is violent!!!

We have been using and researching firearm forensics since about 1835. It has been applied in hundreds of thousands or even millions of criminal cases around the world! One can assume that forensics is very well established and valid. It is mostly questioned by demagogues trying to sow doubt!

To question forensics evidence is certainly a favorite or fallback among defense lawyers. However, most of the times it is probably about human error, negligence, chain of custody issues etc. and not about the science behind forensics.

"The conclusion: Rosenblum [professor in biostatistics] doesn’t see how firearm forensics could be a reliable source of evidence in a criminal trial"

Firearm Forensics on Trial | Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine Defense attorneys appealing a murder conviction enlisted the expertise of statisticians to determine whether the field of firearm forensics is grounded in solid science. The answer? Not even close.

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Global Health NOW

An Orthodox Jewish gun club takes aim at New York Governor Hochul’s new gun control package

In my opinion, Dimocratic Governor Kathy Hochul is right up there in the same club with erratic and crazy Nancy Pelosi and Mistress Kamala!

"In the heavily Orthodox hamlet of Monsey in upstate New York, a Jewish gun owner is threatening a lawsuit to block Gov. Kathy Hochul’s efforts to limit where guns can be carried.

Tzvi Waldman, who is Orthodox and the founder of the New York State Jewish Gun Club (NYS-JGC) in Rockland County, told the New York Jewish Week that he plans to fight Hochul’s gun legislation, calling it unconstitutional.  ..."

An Orthodox Jewish gun club takes aim at NY Gov. Hochul’s new gun control package - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

With Kippah and long hair!

U.S. Senator Mike Lee on the latest gun control bill

Correction as of 6/24/2022: I was incorrect to misinterpret this vote as a mere procedural vote.

If true, this is scary stuff! I am not sure whether this vote was more of a procedural vote as opposed to a final vote on the new law itself. I suspect, former as there were a significant number of Republicans who voted for it. However, it looks like Schumer bundled some minor legislation with the new gun control act with this motion.

Red flag laws are red flags for the U.S. Constitution!

Remember, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance and a high degree of individual responsibility!

"U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) slammed the process after the Senate held a vote Tuesday to advance a bipartisan gun control bill, giving lawmakers less than an hour to read the bill before the vote, but not before it was leaked to the media.

"This is the Senate operating at its worst," Lee told BlazeTV ... griping that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has also prevented lawmakers from offering amendments to improve the bill.

Senators voted 64 to 34 Tuesday in favor of a motion to proceed for an 80-page bill called the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. ...

The bill would expand background checks for gun purchasers under 21 to include juvenile records and mental health records; create financial incentives for states to adopt so-called red-flag laws to confiscate firearms from people believed to be a danger to themselves or others; and fund mental health programs. ..."

Mike Lee says media was provided with text of gun control bill before senators: 'This is the Senate operating at its worst' - TheBlaze

Briefly on the gun violence ideology

Guns are not the problem. The expression "gun violence" is a huge red herring!

Guns are dual use! 

There are already too many guns in circulation and owned by citizens and criminals in the U.S. that most of the suggested measures to address "gun violence" are pretty useless!

Humans pull the trigger! Thus, the primary focus should be on those humans, who intend to or pull the trigger. Law enforcement has to be tough on anyone who misuses a gun! No exceptions! Unfortunately, that is not what is happening in the U.S. especially not in jurisdictions where the Dimocratic Party is in charge!

Virginia sheriff plans to deputize thousands of citizens to get around proposed gun control laws

Sometimes the sheriff is the most important person in America to uphold the U.S. Constitution and very likely even the state constitution and they know that!

Bravo sheriff Jenkins of Culpeper county, Commonwealth of Virginia!

Virginia sheriff plans to deputize thousands of citizens to get around proposed gun control laws - TheBlaze: Democratic-controlled legislature takes aim at state's gun owners

Que Vadis Switzerland?

Posted: 6/23/2019  Updated: 7/1/2019

Update Of 7/1/2019

In my original post below, I overlooked to mention that the Swiss people apparently are also more willing to make severe and detrimental concessions to the gun control obsessed EU (S1). 

More recently, the EU is forcing its stricter capital markets and stock exchange rules on Switzerland. Unfortunately, it seems Switzerland is again caving in! 

Original Post

I have been in awe for decades about this little country Switzerland that managed so well to survive in peace for several hundreds of years. Stories like the famous Wilhelm Tell and the Rütlischwur are still resonating today.

Switzerland A Paragon In More Than One Way

Let’s briefly remind us again why Switzerland is so important to the world:

1. Switzerland is a paragon of limited and small government: E.g. Switzerland has consistently one of the lowest levels of government spending as a share of the economy among the OECD countries
2. Switzerland is a paragon of federalism and decentralized government power: The Swiss have genuine federalism and decentralized government
3. Switzerland is a paragon of self defense: Switzerland has one of the highest gun ownership rate in the world. It also has one of the lowest lowest homicide rate in the world 
4. Switzerland is a living laboratory of direct democracy. Referenda are frequent and the outcomes are in most cases very reasonable 
5. Switzerland has been for centuries a master of reason, common sense, and pragmatism in politics

Too Many Things Went Wrong

But all is not well in recent times with this small country to my great dismay.

Switzerland has succumbed to too many really bad compromises to please e.g. the U.S. or the European Union:

1. The famous Swiss bank secrecy law was watered down
2. The hegemon EU has directly or indirectly imposed lots of its burdensome regulations on Switzerland. Most recently, the Swiss voted for tighter gun control in a referendum

I have previously blogged about Switzerland here, here. I had planned a few more posts on Switzerland in the past, but never got around it. Therefore, e.g. some of my sources below are a bit dated.

Giving Up Economic Freedom For What!

Over the last two or three decades, Switzerland has unnecessarily given up substantial economic freedoms to conform with EU laws and regulations that are actually stifling economic freedom (see S3). It is totally incomprehensible that the citizens of Switzerland agreed to this subjugation! Wilhelm Tell is spinning in his grave!

“Dieses Recht [EU Recht] ist oft unternehmensfeindlich und schützt einseitig die Konsumenten, die Anleger und die Arbeitnehmer.” (S3; translated: The law of the EU is often adversarial to businesses and biased in protecting consumers, stockholders, and employees)

Abuse Of Direct Democracy

There are reports that the famous direct democracy in Switzerland has been perverted to promote the expansion of centralized government and a larger socialist welfare state in Switzerland (S2).

One of the reasons reported why it was possible to subvert the direct democracy in Switzerland is the low threshold of initiating a referendum, which used to be for many years 100,000 signatures (S2).

Swiss Bank Secrecy

Finally, it seems it dawns on the Swiss people how foolish they were to give in to pressure from the U.S. and Europe to relax the famous bank secrecy laws in Switzerland.

It appears it was in particular the most unlawful U.S. president since Nixon and the most socialist U.S. president since Franklin D. Roosevelt, i.e. Barack Obama, who pushed the Swiss over using means like extortion! What a disgrace for the Switzerland! (see S4). As the author of Source No. 4 points out this was a complete disaster for Switzerland! Not only that, e.g. the Isle of Man (a notorious tax haven) fought back much more effectively than Switzerland! It would have served Switzerland so much better to oppose this pretentious President Obama full force!

Apparently, Switzerland had several so called whistle blowers that purportedly exposed the illegal dealings of Swiss banks! Here again, the Swiss failed to defend their businesses!

Sure a significant number of infamous and lesser known, bloody dictators and their cronies have hidden their ill gotten money in Switzerland. On the other hand, many honest and reasonable people were able to protect their assets by moving them to Switzerland!

Sources (S):

1. Why the Swiss Voted for More Gun Control (published 6/19/2019)
2. Die Schweiz: Freiheit oder Mehrheitsdiktatur? (published Nov. 2018)
3. Verteidigung der freiheitlichen Wirtschaftsordnung Das internationale Recht beeinflusst zunehmend die Wirtschaftspolitik. Die Selbstbestimmungsinitiative gibt hier Gegensteuer (published 4/13/2015)
4. Geschichte eines kollektiven Versagens Zwar war der internationale Druck enorm, trotzdem ist die Schweiz am Ausgang der Affäre um das Bankgeheimnis selber schuld. Eine kritische Aufarbeitung tut not. (6/15/2015)
5. Die Schweiz spielt mit dem Feuer (7/1/19)

Only Fools Pass Gun Free Zone Laws

Posted: 2/23/2018

The Foolish Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990

Gun free zone was defined as within 1000 feet of a defined school.

No lesser a fool than U.S. Senator Joseph Biden introduced this law in 1990.

A total of 313 fools in the U.S. House of Representatives (178 Democrats, 135 Republicans) voted for this nonsense law. Only one Representative, a Republican, had the guts to vote against it. A coward 118 Representatives abstained from voting.

“Passed the [U.S.] Senate on October 27, 1990 (passed voice vote)” So the U.S. Senators were even more foolish and coward than their colleagues, the Representatives, to pass this nonsense law without even having their votes registered. Very clever!

Apparently, the U.S. Supreme Court could not get it straight either. How often has this court actually and substantially  failed over its history?

Foolish U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno then proposed changes to the act and they were adopted by other fools.

What A Bonanza This Law Has Been For Coward Mass Murderers

This absolutely foolish law made public schools target no. 1 again and again for coward mass murderers!

I don’t think I have to explain or expound this after the latest school shooting perpetrated on 2/14/2018 in Parkland, Fl by a single, young man killing 17 (14 students, 3 staff members).

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun-Free_School_Zones_Act_of_1990

On Chris Kyle's Murderer

Posted: 1/9/2016

Trigger

In response to the strong criticism of President Obama’s latest, autocratic and useless anti gun measures, gun control advocates appear to have discovered the double murder or former sniper Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield as a pro gun control argument like ridiculing yeah he was murdered in a gun free zone.

I would argue that the murder of Chris Kyle raises a lot of good questions about e.g. the inadequate health care in the U.S. and more.

Notes & Questions

1. Yes, Chris Kyle kind of knew his murderer who lived in the same town. The mother of the murderer approached Kyle to help with her son. However, was Chris Kyle told beforehand in detail about the background of his murderer? Would he have offered to help had he known more about the murderer? Do we know whether Chris Kyle chose to help despite being fully briefed on this man?
2. The murderer was reported to have been severely mentally ill and was in and out of mental hospitals for at least two years. Why was he not diagnosed for being a danger to himself or others? Why was he not institutionalized and treated?
3. If it is true that “[murderer] met the criteria of risk factors for violence in a patient diagnosed with schizophrenia: male sex, age below 30, prediagnosis history of violence, paranoid subtype, nonadherence to medication regimen, and heavy substance abuse.” (source), then you wonder even more why the heck not more was done to treat this man possibly even against his will?
4. From what little I was reading about the murderer, his mother, father, and sister perhaps knew much more about the severity of his mental condition and his drug abuse habits, but may have not done enough to help him get proper treatment. Why do parents or siblings do not have better options in the U.S. to seek treatment for their loved ones?
5. What is known about the murderer’s military recruitment and service? It was reported (source) that the murderer never really faced combat; that during his recruitment possible significant warning signs were failed to be noticed or willfully ignored; that he like a bully severely beat a fellow soldier and suddenly slammed another soldier, who became unconscious, during his service in Iraq; on his Haiti assignment, another soldier also noticed that the murderer was “really wild”; on his Haiti assignment, the murderer supposedly stayed on ship the whole time and did not encounter PTSD triggering situations.  Unfortunately, it was not reported whether the murderer was sanctioned by the military for his violence against fellow soldiers
6. If it is correct what I described above about the murderer’s military recruitment and service, then it would suggest that the U.S. military needs to do a whole lot more to handle possibly mentally unstable men or women.
7. It was reported (source) about the murderer’s life after military service that he suffered a heatstroke at work; fantasized about a tapeworm; several encounters with the police on DUI, possible safety concerns reported by a woman; fistfight with his father and threatening to blow brains out with a weapon; mother reports a burglary and stolen medications; mother requested to admit her son to a mental ward and he was taken to psychiatric hospital; his girlfriend noticed paranoia and him clutching a knife when girlfriend’s roommate texted police and he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital again, but was transferred immediately to Veteran’s administration. Why does a civilian psychiatric hospital quickly transfer an obviously, severely mentally ill patient to the VA when adequate treatment is likely not assured?
8. Finally, but not least important is the question whether the murder of Chris Kyle was perhaps a Herostratus crime or a crime for fame?

Gun Control In The U.S. Is A Manifest Delusion

Posted: 10/4/2015

1. The U.S. and many states have an individual right to bear arms written in their constitution for good reasons. Self-defense and prevention of tyranny are human/natural rights of any free human being
2. There are already plenty of gun control acts and regulations on the book on the federal and state level. E.g. a significant number of mass shooters of innocent victims have often legally acquired their guns and even passed background checks before their shooting spree
3. There are about 300 million handguns owned or in circulation in this country. It is simply illusory for any politician to think more gun control or more background checks are the answer. E.g. no law or its enforcement could 100% prevent the private sale of guns unless U.S. citizens are willing to live like in North Korea
4. Gun free zones is one stark expression of the manifest delusion of gun control (the other delusion is zero tolerance). These ‘zones’ should be abolished immediately so that potential perpetrators would be deterred. There should be more armed guards or armed volunteers to immediately confront criminals or perpetrators with mental disorders when necessary
5. Every citizen should be encouraged to carry a weapon, to learn how to use a weapon properly, and bear the responsibility to defend against criminals at any time or place when necessary

The Umpqua Mass Shooter

Posted: 10/3/2015

Introduction

I do not follow this tragic shooting very closely, because I do not have the time. However, I am generally interested to learn why a human being in peacetime would commit such horrible atrocities against innocent humans. And I am even more interested in why we humans still have no better ways to diagnose or treat humans who would one day commit such crimes.

I have previously blogged here about other mass shooting similar to the most recent one in at the Umpqua. This one also appears to be a Copycat Effect shooting, which I blogged here as well. Please find more, related blog posts here, here, here

Labels: mass shootings, Adam Lanza, Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez, Jared Loughner

What (Little) We Know So Far About The Shooter

1. It appears he was a so called loser (this is not meant in a derogatory way)
2. The shooter apparently took time to shoot each individual. According to one account the shooting took at least 15 minutes long. Unfortunately, I have not yet searched nor have I seen a detailed timeline of the event. What this suggests however is that had their been an armed person in the classroom or next door or down the hallway, the shooter would have been apprehended or killed much sooner. I also suspect this Oregon community college was a so called gun free zone and this was enforced. Or even better some ‘aspiring’ mass shooters would be deterred when they knew they faced immediate deadly force to stop him or her.
3. He was described as a weirdo by different people who had contact at different times with the shooter. Did these witnesses just make this up after the fact or were their observations largely correct?
4. “He was listed as a 2009 graduate of the Switzer Learning Center in Torrance, a private school for students with learning disabilities, emotional issues and other special-education needs.” The mother, a licensed nurse, is reported to have identified his son as having “Asperger”
5. The divorced mother appears to have been mentally ill herself and she was extremely protective of her son. Thus, the son appears to be a second generation mentally ill person.
6. The shooter was according to reports fascinated by other mass shootings. Thus, this could be a copycat event
7. Like the Sandy Hook shooter, his mother was also into shooting and going to shooting ranges
8. Why would a 26 year old man live permanently with her mother in a one bedroom apartment?
9. The shooter served only one month in the U.S. Army in 2008 (see e.g. here)
10. The shooter was turned down by the owner and chief instructor of a “private self-defense and law enforcement training academy” (see e.g. here)
11. It was reported that he was born in the U.K., he had a step-sister and he described himself as “mixed-race”. Until we know more about his family background it could indicate perhaps a difficult family situation.
12. I believe, we have not yet learnt much about what the family of the shooter knew about his personality or what they tried to help him. It is kind of obvious to me that most mass shooters grew up in the presence of adults or siblings etc.. I am also pretty sure that someone in the family or teacher etc. noticed that their son or student was ‘going down the wrong path’ or had a mental disorder. This brings up that the otherwise excellent U.S. health care system (although largely government run and therefore by far not as good as it could be) his awfully lacking mental or psychological diagnosis and treatment capabilities! There are is no mental illness awareness month in the U.S.! Why? If there were better medical offerings for people like the mass shooter, we would hope perhaps some of them would voluntarily seek help before it is too late.
13. What is remarkable and probably a step in the right direction is that the sheriff’s department in Oregon would not name the perpetrator’s name to avoid the shooter’s crave for fame. We hope this example

Other sources used: here, here

A Few Lessons Learnt

The current U.S. President is a moron on the subject of mass shootings with innocent people as victims. President Obama has no vision and no clue! Like a perfect, unteachable ideologue he keeps demanding for more gun control.

If this president had any clue and intelligence, he would sign an executive order to fully, comprehensively investigate the background etc. of all recent mass shooters alive or dead. He would try to appropriate as much money as possible into research for better diagnosis and treatments. He would support measures to find better ways for parents to help their children or for potential mass shooters to voluntarily seek help before it is too late.

If I were the president I would immediately announce a mental disorder awareness month and I would probably choose it to overlap with breast cancer awareness month. Cancer, in the worst case, usually kills only the patient, but an untreated serious mental disorder can kill others as well.

Common-Nonsense Gun Safety Laws

Posted: 7/26/2015

This week we were witness again of an apparently mentally man (John R. Houser) committing a mass shooting this time again in a movie theater in Lafayette, LA (see e.g. this Reuters article).

What has the fool in the White House to say about this tragic event. He insisted again on passing “common-sense gun safety laws”. If U.S. President Barack Obama had any common sense he would immediately spend an extra $1-10 billion dollar on research and treatment of mental illnesses.

Dubious Gun Background Checks

Posted: 7/11/2015

Trigger

This week, this week the FBI had to admit that the Charleston shooter, Dylann Roof, should not have passed the gun background check when he purchased the weapon he used in his heinous crime. See e.g. this article: “An error made during a background check failed to disclose all details of the alleged assailant’s criminal background, which would have disqualified him.”

Get Rid Of Mandatory Federal Gun Background Checks

It should be left to the people, legislatures, and governments of individual states to determine if and what kind of background check is necessary to acquire a gun by an individual. Each state should determine whether a federal background check is necessary or not.

Gun Controls Are An Endless Harassment Of Honest People

In the end, criminals or psychopaths do not care about gun controls. That is the hard fact!

We ought to tighten criminal law to lock up convicted felons, if e.g. they are caught again with a gun etc. This would be a much better and more constitutional approach!