Again, we witnessed a horrendous event where 10 people lost their lives in a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. A brutal, senseless tragedy.
Once done, the cries go out to stop the mentally ill from having access to firearms, echoing from the president on down. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Mentally ill people do not possess the planning strategies that the gunman in this case had which he had months to put together his nefarious plan. He had body armor and rounds of ammunition showing a clear head in planning the attack.
It is not mental illness that fuels these events, it is anger that jells into hatred and causes one to hurt and demolish anybody blamed for the anger.
In response to this program, we need to address and look up the anger and hatred by the person not whether they are mentally ill. Communities have to be more aware of these individuals because they give off signs what to look for and are called pre-incident indicators. It can be identified and is how we can present tragic occurrences.
Finally, the research on mentally ill and violence shows that mentally ill people are more likely to be the victims of violence, not perpetrate violence.
Ronald J. Coughlin, Ed.D.
Mercerville
