Guns, Mental Illness and Newtown

The Wall Street Journal ^ | December 17, 2012, 7:04 p.m. ET | DAVID KOPEL

[KeyLargo]

Guns, Mental Illness and Newtown

There were 18 random mass shootings in the 1980s, 54 in the 1990s, and 87 in the 2000s.

By DAVID KOPEL

Has the rate of random mass shootings in the United States increased? Over the past 30 years, the answer is definitely yes. It is also true that the total U.S. homicide rate has fallen by over half since 1980, and the gun homicide rate has fallen along with it. Today, Americans are safer from violent crime, including gun homicide, than they have been at any time since the mid-1960s.

Mass shootings, defined as four or more fatalities, fluctuate from year to year, but over the past 30 years there has been no long-term increase or decrease. But "random" mass shootings, such as the horrific crimes last Friday in Newtown, Conn., have increased. Related Video

Alan Lankford of the University of Alabama analyzed data from a recent New York Police Department study of "active shooters"—criminals who attempted to murder people in a confined area, where there are lots of people, and who chose at least some victims randomly. Counting only the incidents with at least two casualties, there were 179 such crimes between 1966 and 2010. In the 1980s, there were 18. In the 1990s, there were 54. In the 2000s, there were 87.

If you count only such crimes in which five or more victims were killed, there were six in the 1980s and 19 in the 2000s.

Why the increase? It cannot be because gun-control laws have become more lax. Before the 1968 Gun Control Act, there were almost no federal gun-control laws. The exception was the National Firearms Act of 1934, which set up an extremely severe registration and tax system for automatic weapons and has remained in force for 78 years.

[KeyLargo]

"In the mid-1960s, many of the killings would have been prevented because the severely mentally ill would have been confined and cared for in a state institution. But today, while government at most every level has bloated over the past half-century, mental-health treatment has been decimated. According to a study released in July by the Treatment Advocacy Center, the number of state hospital beds in America per capita has plummeted to 1850 levels, or 14.1 beds per 100,000 people. "

As a side note I just watched Faux News, Chris Wallace antagonistic interview of Wayne LaPierre. Wayne just as well have gone on Chris Matthews show and received the same liberal biased inquisition.

[Sherman Logan]

Nor are magazines holding more than 10 rounds something new. They were invented decades ago and have long been standard for many handguns.

It is, however, fair to point out that there are a lot more of them around than there used to be.

[Sooth2222]

Browning Hi-Power

Place of origin Belgium United States

Service history

In service 1935–present[1]

Wars World War II[1]

Designer John Browning, Dieudonné Saive

Designed 1914–1935[1]

Manufacturer Fabrique Nationale (FN)

Produced 1935–present[1]

Number built 1,000,000+[2]

Cartridge

* 9x19mm Parabellum[1] * 7.65x21mm Parabellum * .40 S&W

Effective range 50 m

Feed system Detachable box magazine; capacities:

* 13 rounds (9mm)[1]

* 10 rounds (.40 S&W)

The Browning Hi-Power is a single-action, 9 mm semi-automatic handgun. It is based on a design by American firearms inventor John Browning, and completed by Dieudonné Saive at Fabrique Nationale (FN) of Herstal, Belgium. Browning died in 1926, several years before the design was finalized. The Hi-Power is one of the most widely used military pistols of all time,[3] having been used by the armed forces of over 50 countries.[1]

The Hi-Power name alluded to the 13-round magazine capacity; almost twice that of contemporary designs such as the Luger or Mauser 1910. The pistol is often referred to as an HP (for "Hi-Power" or "High-Power")[4] or as a GP (for the French term, "Grande Puissance"). The term P-35 is also used, based on the introduction of the pistol in 1935. It is most often called the "Hi-Power", even in Belgium. It is also known as the BAP (Browning Automatic Pistol), particularly in Irish service.

If one graphs out the number of mass shootings in the US over the last century, and marks the introduction of Browning's Hi-Power in 1935 and Kennedy's Community Mental Health Act of 1963 (CMHA), I think one can see that the numbers begin to increase after the CMHA was passed in 1963.

[Puppage]

And they’re s more gun owners than there used to be. IMHO, magazine capacity has zero to do with any of this.

[I cannot think of a name]

And a few other woopsies:

Movie studios have made BILLIONS on product placement. That means, we’ll pay you to simply have our product sitting on the table when the hero is talking, because simply being seen is enough to make people go out and buy it.

But the violence in movies has no effect. /sarcasm off/

A huge percentage of the troops in Viet Nam did NOT fire their weapons the first time they were in combat (some people say the number is as low as less than 20%).

Fast forward to the first Gulf War and a majority of the troops DID fire their weapons the first time they were in combat (some say the number is as high as 80%)

What happened in between. Realistic video training was introduced in the 1980s. But realistic video games have NO effect on the general population.

And why do you hear nothing of this from the gun control experts?

Look at where the contributions from the movie studios and the gaming industry go.

[chalkfarmer]

Hate Fox News. Saw the same thing you did. Wayne is always prepared, and always battles his interviewers with logic. Chris and all the others can’t handle logic.

[Marcella]

I was a psychological examiner at the time Texas shut down their mental institutions and dumped these people on the street. They said at that time that communities would take care of these people on an out-patient basis.

I know that was an excuse to dump them because no community effort was made. In later years, I had a patient I knew was suicidal. Her family got her sent to the state mental hospital in Austin (think that's the only one we have if it is still functioning now). They drugged her up, called me, said she was okay and released her. She bought a gun, went to a motel, and shot herself in the head. That is the kind of mental service we have now, at least in Texas.

[FreedomPoster]

What was the rough time frame of that shut down?