RE: Whose Name Will You Remember

The following is an email I recieved regarding my post on the Newtown tragedy. I don't typically publish full emails, however, as I've responded to his comments, I wanted everyone to be able to read it. Please feel free add your voice to the conversation.

My full response: A More Perfect Union...


"The Crap Chute is right on target. This is an extremely lucid and well thought out opinion regarding the incident of Friday, Dec 14^th.  I want to commend you for this in-depth analysis.  While I find agreement on most of your arguments, especially the right to own guns, I have to disagree with the way you characterize the shooter.  I was somewhat perturbed by the following 2 statements in your blog:

“I have no interest in turning the shooter into a twisted cult icon or giving him any more press than he has already gotten, so I will NEVER use his name. He will be referred to simply as that, the shooter. I will discuss why I feel his actions are neither random or a product of mental illness, and why calling him mentally ill is an insult to everyone.”

“The words mentally ill keep getting bantered about as if they somehow justify or explain his actions. He was not mentally ill. It is comforting to us to believe he was.”

Those are powerful words … fighting words, if you may.  You say “calling him mentally ill is an insult to everyone” Really?  Adam Lanza was described by many, including his psychiatrist and his mother, as being MENTALLY UNSTABLE.  He had NO FRIENDS … he spent hours alone in his basement playing violent video games.  As a first grader at Sandy Hook he scared the other kids with crazy antics.  As he became increasingly anti-social, his concerned mother took him to a psychiatrist for evaluation.

I realize none of the above is a ‘diagnosis’ of mental illness.  But I wonder at what point do we say “there is something wrong with this kid”.  I know it’s a slippery slope, but that should not deter us from digging a little deeper, and continuing to look for links to violent behavior.  Let’s not be too dismissive of this kid and assume that he is simply looking for more press.  And if he is looking for press in that manner, it might be symptomatic of a deeper psychiatric condition. 

In my view, this incident of Dec 14^th begs the following questions:

1. How do we ensure more responsible gun ownership?

2. How do we protect little children from monsters?

3. How do we analyze the risk posed by mentally unstable folk?

Let’s take each in the order presented.  (1) Responsible Gun Ownership. The recounting of your Dad schooling his 12-yr old on the rudiments of responsible gun ownership is truly admirable.  That’s what a genuine hunter does.  (I am aware, incidentally, that your Dad will not let anyone, even his own child, kill animals other than for food). Because you had a caring and responsible father, you developed a healthy respect for guns.  I will defend your right to own a gun, and to protect yourself and your family.  Every American citizen has that right. However, when certain types of high-powered, army-style weapons are repeatedly used to massacre people, every level headed American should be asking, “how do we get those weapons out of the hands of murderers?” The question is not how do we curtail “responsible gun ownership” but how do we engender it. This conversation MUST take place.

(2) Protecting Little Children. The survival of our species depends on our ability to protect the young and vulnerable among us.  No task can be greater or more pressing.  How can we witness this massacre and not entertain this discussion.  Where do the kids assemble?  Class rooms? Cinemas? Malls?  Who are the monsters? Bullies? The mentally ill? The deranged? So, how do we keep the deranged out of cinemas, or the bullies out of schools? We need answers. This conversation MUST also take place.

(3) Mentally Unstable Folk.  This brings us back to Adam Lanza.  To my mind, he is as much a victim as the other 20 kids … in a drastically different way, and for drastically different reasons.  But, he is a victim of the endemic ills of our society. To accept that fact is not a glorification of Adam, but a call to action.  A monster was created, and this monster has to be part of the conversation.

Adam Lanza was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, and I realize that there is no history or association of violence with Asperger’s syndrome, but that is more reason for further review and analysis.  I consulted WebMd for a better understanding of Asperger’s Syndrome, and based on what I now know, I am convinced that this kid was mentally and emotionally unstable.  WebMd describes Asperger’s syndrome, also called Asperger's disorder, as “a type of pervasive developmental disorder (PDD)”  It goes on to say that “PDDs are a group of conditions that involve delays in the development of many basic skills, most notably the ability to socialize with others, to communicate, and to use imagination.” To me, THAT’S THE BEGINNING OF ILLNESS.

The challenge we all have with mental illnesses and disorders is that it is difficult to quantify the symptoms.  If your blood pressure is consistently at 160/100, you will probably walk around looking healthy for many years, but eventually the 2 million nephrons in your kidney will explode and your kidney will cease to function. A diseased and untreated kidney will kill you in less than one year.  If the fluids that moisten your eyes don’t drain properly, it causes a build-up of pressure in your eye. Pressure that is consistently over 21mg HH will injure the optic nerve and eventually cause blindness (glaucoma).  These two illnesses, kidney disease and glaucoma, have measurable targets that are indicative of their condition.  Unfortunately, you can not assign a number to Autism, or to Asperger’s syndrome, or to other developmental disorders… but they silently damage your mental capacity.  To my way of thinking, that makes you UNWELL.  These disorders are insidious and should not be taken lightly.

I believe you should keep your guns to defend your family.  I believe you should remain engaged in the advocacy for RESPONSIBLE gun ownership.  I also believe you should include Adam Lanza in your list of victims of Dec 14^th.  Please … use his name.  We need to know as much as we can about him.

The last four mass murders in schools were perpetrated by disturbed kids who later committed suicide … Columbine (1999), Virginia Tech (2007), Northern Illinois Univ (2008), and now Sandy Hook (2012). Somewhere in there is a message, but we are not getting it."