“. . . but what did I know then? And only a bit more now.” — B.D., central character in Jim Harrison’s collection of novellas, Brown Dog, referring to his younger self, compared to his present day self, as he considers the passage of many years, and the scant wisdom attained despite the passage of time
“I don’t claim to be an expert. But I am a witness.”
I’ve been in combat. Not only did I experience being on both sides of gunfire, I saw the damage that results. I saw more than enough. My friend Marlin was killed. Another friend was severely wounded.
I was trying to comfort Ron moments after he was hit. I held him in my arms, and cried. He said, “It’s nice that you care, but those tears are gettin’ in my wounds, and that shit stings.” Besides those two good friends, I saw a lot of guys get hit. It’s really not like the TV or movies.
I was wounded. I spent nine months in military hospitals. I’ve still got shrapnel on in my body, high and low.*
At Great Lakes Naval Hospital, where Marines go for medical care, I saw the devastating results of gunfire injuries. There’s an old cliché that goes something like “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” I think it’s been made into a country song. It’s not true. Perhaps I should say it’s seldom true. Generally, the opposite is true. When I see someone limping around on a prosthetic leg, I feel no need to ask him if the amputation, while not killing him, made him stronger.
I carried a sidearm for about a decade in one part of my career. Guys went to prison on my recommendation. I had a work CPL (concealed pistol license). I got a CPL as a private citizen once I changed jobs. I was still out in the community. I live in the same area where I worked. I renewed my CPL once. I’ve since let it lapse.
Another part of my career involved seeking mental health treatment for adults. I filled out – and signed – dozens of petitions for involuntary commitments to inpatient psychiatric facilities. I testified in court, with the subject present, as to why I thought an individual was dangerous to self or others. My efforts were well meaning, but as one might expect, not always appreciated.
Our mental health laws could be better, or perhaps it is more accurate to say they could be interpreted differently, to lean more toward community safety, and less toward individual freedom and liberty. It’s a constant tension, the push and pull between individual rights and community protection.
Judges make a decision as to whether someone that is the subject of a commitment proceeding is dangerous. Judges decide the cases in front of them. It is very important to have quality judges.
Anyone can bring a commitment petition to court, but it is a cumbersome, time consuming process, and the subject of the petition is likely to be resentful. If and individual recognized the need for inpatient psychiatric services, he could admit himself voluntarily. The scariest person I dealt with in this regard was a tiny young woman who threatened to come to my home “in the middle of the night, with gasoline and matches.”
That’s when I de-listed my home address from the phone book. We need to have the fortitude to act to safeguard our public, and to get the help for the person in need that lacks the insight to seek it on his own. Community Mental Health, organized by counties, can provide assistance to those that have valid concerns.
Our police and deputies have the authority to transport a person believed to be dangerously mentally ill to a psychiatlric facility for evaluation. This is employed very conservatively, and, in my past experience, not used as often as might be optimal.
Besides the changes to mental health delivery, there are gun control measures that might help. While I might be inclined to support more “radical reforms” to gun laws, like we find in Australia, Canada and almost every other developed country, even modest changes could be beneficial. Such as:
- Close the gun show loophole
- No high capacity (10+) magazines; in what situation is ten rounds not sufficient?
- Restore the regulation requiring the SSA to communicate with the ATF or FBI about whom is deemed mentally ill enough to receive disability claims or benefits
- Institute a waiting period/record check for long guns similar to that which is in use for handguns.
Some of the ideas the NRA promotes is crazy on the face of it. Armor piercing rounds. Silencers/suppressors. But the NRA buys politicians with campaign contributions, and the NRA are whores too, to the gun manufacturers. NRA puts out a great deal of silly propaganda, and has major influence with lawmakers despite the departure of reasonableness.
*I had a bad cough not long ago. My doc ordered a chest X-ray. The X-ray tech like to talk about baseball, and we jabbered on some, and I didn’t do my usual prep of the guy. He didn’t ask me to take off my shirt. After he’d taken the X-ray, he came back into the room with a perplexed look on his face. “Sir,” he said, “I hate to ask you this, it’s a little personal, but do you have any body jewelry? Perhaps a nipple ring?” He’d seen something on the X-ray that was obviously metal. We laughed about it. I might not be the stereotypical nipple ring sort of guy. He seemed think it was almost as funny as I did.
I’m very tired of the carnage. Most Americans are. President Trump states that he wants to do away with bump stocks. This is an excellent first step.
