How to address a killer's psyche without demonizing mental illness
- 9 years ago
TROLLHATTAN, SWEDEN — The killing at a Swedish school by a sword-wielding dude in a Darth Vader mask is fueling further debate on gun control laws. The left cries, "Look, if he had a gun, the death toll would have been much higher." The right argues, "Anyone with enough mental instability and determination is going to kill no matter what."
We can imagine the left arguing in favor of background checks on sword purchases. Another idea would be to limit the use of swords for hunting purposes only, because there's no reason for anyone to have a sword THAT big. Let's go one step further and get rid of all sharp objects, because who doesn't want to enjoy their steak with a spoon.
A solution from the right may be to have teachers carry their own swords, so that they could have stopped the Swedish killer. And if we outlaw swords, then only the outlaws will have them. And of course the classic argument, "The only way to stop a bad person with a sword is with good person with a sword."
Is there a way to talk about mental illness as the common denominator in these attacks without labelling all mentally ill people as potential killers? What if we could go back in time and really understand the struggle these guys were going through? Would that alone be enough to turn them away from the dark side?
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We can imagine the left arguing in favor of background checks on sword purchases. Another idea would be to limit the use of swords for hunting purposes only, because there's no reason for anyone to have a sword THAT big. Let's go one step further and get rid of all sharp objects, because who doesn't want to enjoy their steak with a spoon.
A solution from the right may be to have teachers carry their own swords, so that they could have stopped the Swedish killer. And if we outlaw swords, then only the outlaws will have them. And of course the classic argument, "The only way to stop a bad person with a sword is with good person with a sword."
Is there a way to talk about mental illness as the common denominator in these attacks without labelling all mentally ill people as potential killers? What if we could go back in time and really understand the struggle these guys were going through? Would that alone be enough to turn them away from the dark side?
-------------------------------------------------------------
Daily videos brought to you by THE Taiwanese Animators behind the infamous Tiger Woods animation. We got the funniest animations on the web to help you stay in-the-know on all the trending stories, so sit back, relax, and watch a few.
Can't get enough of Taiwanese animations? Connect with us here:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/NMAtv
Twitter @nmatv http://www.twitter.com/nmatv
Google+ http://gplus.to/NMAtv