General News Ex-policeman shoots couple for texting in a Florida movie theatre

Why is it easier for the mentally ill to obtain a firearm than treatment in this country?

 

This is why I'm moving out of 'Murica when I get older. Too lenient gun laws that I don't see changing soon.

And this is just sad. Why someone would do this, it just doesn't make a tiny bit of sense. :icon_sad: I hope he gets what he deserves.

 

Because 'Murica. But seriously this country is so fucked up, getting decent mental health treatment is way harder and expensive than it should be, yet guns are far easier to get than they should be. I have no idea why people think a mental health check is a bad idea for those buying guns.

 

I don't mind mentally healthy and capable people carrying guns. People have been able to save themselves and their families because they owned a gun. However, a person's mental health should be examined before they are permitted to purchase a gun.

 

This is not the first time a ex-police officer did something like this. I think they should be examined before being allowed to own fire arms... Not just them, ANYONE who wants to buy one. Maybe routine testing?

 

Sounds like someone saw God Bless America at some point.

And what Aussie said. I hate how people automatically say someone who shoots a place up has a mental illness, it makes the rest of us sound like sociopaths.

 

I feel like I read somewhere this guy was a former marine as well as a former cop, so it doesn't surprise me that he saw fit to resolve a minor dispute by shooting and killing someone. Makes me sick.

 

Culture of violence, no surprises here. That is the real cause.

 

I can't imagine what his wife must be feeling. He took her to a movie to have a good time and he dies. Sad, really sad.

 

And marines and cops are idolized in this country as our greatest heroes. If our society's greatest heroes are the people who signed up to go murder Iraqis in an illegal war of aggression, why would we not expect our individuals to emulate their heroes?

 

All mental illness is not the same. Perhaps this man didn't have any formal diagnosis but murdering someone over a text message is the very definition of a sociopath.

 

Just because he may have not been diagnosed, does not mean he wasn't mentally ill. To shoot innocent people over something so petty, I'd say you must in the very least have an unhealthy amount of anger. I'd consider this enough of a mental issue to not give someone a gun over.

 

I've never understood why they're idolised as much as they are. It happens with soldiers here, cops not so much.

Psychopathy isn't a mental illness. And just because someone fits the characteristics of a condition doesn't mean they should be diagnosed as such. Because believe it or not, there may be a diagnosis that fits better, or they might be completely fucking sane.

And it doesn't mean he was. Blaming mental illness is a cop out. It's possible, sure, that he was mentally ill, that would be unlikely to be the only factor in this. I agree with Aussie about demonising the mentally ill, particularly when there is no evidence. But even if that were the case society has to take some of the blame. It seems you'd all rather blame mental illness instead of accepting that violent cultures lead to more violence. Instead of accepting that the uncaring nature of society leads to people becoming more likely to do things like this.

 

Personally, I don't believe that a mentally healthy and stable person would kill someone over texting in the movie theatre. I'm not saying that anyone who has murdered someone else is mentally ill, but I'm saying that in this case based on the facts given it is my personal opinion that he was likely not mentally stable enough to own a gun.

 

so the ex-policeman was judgmental? have anger management issue? have cell phone hatred? Im just pointing out possible non-mental illness mental issues one would have, but wow, using gun to solve a discord over texting in cellphone. It's not like, talking on phone or something.

I know the theater I go to say to turn cell phones off, but I usually just do them silent

 

Oh, I understand it completely, it serves the ruling classes perfectly fine, they need plenty of cannon fodder to sign up for their ambitious warmongering agenda, so they promote a culture of violence with violent movies, books, video games, etc. (On the other hand, any hint of sex, like a nipple accidentally being exposed, provokes a storm of outrage and controversy in our culture. Sex, which creates life and sustains love, is seen as evil, while violence, which destroys life and turns loving relationships into grieving widows and widowers, is seen as glorious and heroic.)

Politicians can't say enough about what wonderful heroes soldiers are, and how veterans deserve so many special taxpayer-funded government programs and tax breaks just for them (from the same politicians who say we need cut food stamps and day care for single women working two jobs and barely able to put food on the table for starving children).


Meanwhile I think our society completely ignores the true heroes out there. People like teachers and social workers go through a ton of schooling just so they can get the chance to make lives and save lives, and are woefully underpaid here in the U.S., teachers especially are constantly demonized as the enemy by the Republican Party. I think the teacher and the social worker are the heroes, not the soldier and the cop. The latter are evils, perhaps necessary evils considering the reality we sadly live in, but what they do should be seen as the necessary evil that it is, not something we should glorify and be inspired by.

Cops aren't idolized nearly as much as soldiers are, but especially since 9/11, in the U.S. they're still considered brave emergency heroes who selflessly put their lives on the line to protect everyone else. Meanwhile there are countless cases where a cop shoots someone dead who posed no physical threat to them and then gets off saying it was "self-defense"- and the cops always close ranks to protect their own.

 

..Can I just point out that pretty much no one signs up with the military so they can go kill people? If they do, they're usually weeded out because n one wants a loose cannon. In many cases with the younger generation it's because they're promised a free ride for education that they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford.

In the case of the older generation, like the man mentioned in the article, they were drafted. During the Vietnam war they would have the evening lottery. I don't remember how exactly they chose, as in if they chose a birth month as well, but I know that if a number was picked and your birthday was on that number, you were drafted. While the draft is no longer in effect, men between the ages of 18 and 30 (I think) are technically supposed to sign up with some sort of service.

Just because there's a few bad eggs doesn't mean the whole group needs to be demonized. After all, not all teachers and social workers are saints, either. I'm not defending what the guy did. I just find it frustrating at how this community likes to paint everyone of a certain group the same color due to the actions of a few.

And yes, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there's a good chance the guy did have an undiagnosed mental illness, especially if he served. We all know that mental health care is shit in this country and it was worse back when he would have served. I would not be surprised if the movie triggered something. Hell, my step-dad's friend served, is as mellow as could be, and explosions on games causes him to flinch.

No, I'm not demonizing people with mental illnesses either, because surprise! I was diagnosed with clinical depression at 5. Just putting that out there so no one can snark at me.

 

I think you make so many good points here. It is so refreshing. Where I am from, and in many other parts of the country, it is very nearly blasphemy to say anything at all negative about cops or the military. I have had people threaten violence toward me for being critical of the military. I am not painting individuals with one color, I am merely saying that the military takes people, breaks them down, and rebuilds them as something less than human. They make them into desensitized killers because that is their job. The institution of law enforcement is no longer here to protect and serve but to oppress and arrest. So I am talking about the institutions and what they do to the people involved, or at least what they honestly aim to do.

But more on topic: I agree we have a culture of violence. It is hard to comprehend that we threaten each other's well-being over petty differences. I ride a motorcycle and minor traffic issues can often insight rage in car drivers that leads to them using their vehicles as deadly weapons. I really think this all goes back to entitlement. We have a culture of entitlement that churns out people with no coping skills for disappointment and so they go straight to violence when they don't get their way.

I just read that the guy had been texting his toddler daughter...ugh I hope this asshole who shot him rots in jail. The shooter was also a member of Crime Stoppers in his neighborhood. Apparently Crime Stoppers has a real vendetta against innocent people holding movie theater concessions. First Skittles now cell phones and pop corn. These self-appointed Crime Fighters have a serious hero-complex and should be no where near a hand gun. I carry for my own safety, but Christ you have to understand how serious shit needs to be before you even present a gun. If someone's not trying to kill me or rape me, that little son of a bitch is staying holstered and I'm running for the hills.