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Virginia Tech Report Cites Privacy Law Problems
RickRussellTX writes "A panel of Bush administration officials, including several bureau chiefs, concludes that confusing privacy laws contributed to the Virgina Tech shootings. The report claims that confusion over student privacy and medical privacy laws "has limited the ability of these officials to prevent the kind of violence that occurred at Virginia Tech.""
"These kind of things just don't happen quite so often in countries that have sane gun laws, privacy laws or not."
There, fixed that for ya.
Keep in mind that some high-functioning schizophrenics are likely to deliberately lead mental health professionals to believe that they are not schizophrenic because of the possible consequences. My best friend works in mental health, and they are very adamant that their "clients" take their medications, which often have very distressing and unpleasant side effects. For a schizophrenic who is able to lead a moderately productive life, the medications will probably be worse than the schizophrenia itself, and thus they may seek to hide their condition.
What country has sane gun laws? Japan? Australia?
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If you care do do a bit of research you'd find that Australian gun laws changed after the Port Arthur Massacre, and semi-automatic weapons were banned. The results? No mass shootings since 1995.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/gun-deaths-in
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/12/14/australi
http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/cgi/content/short
http://www.physorg.com/news85298565.html
Now while it is true there's been an increase in armed robberies in Australia in the last 11 years, it must be remembered that it has always been illegal to carry handguns here, so there has never been the deterrent of an armed citizenry; the change in laws had absolutely no effect in that regard.
Blank until
No. This database will hold information from "mental health adjudications". When you choose to go see a pshrink, or check yourself into a clinic, that is not an adjudication. When the cops talk you down from a ledge and Baker Act you for 72 hours, and you are ordered by a judge into a treatment program, that is a mental health adjudication. This bill cannot discourage the seeking of voluntary mental health care.
Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it. --Mark Twain
You are blaming a chunk of metal for the shortfalls of a culture. Japan has fewer murders as a whole. It has nothing to do with firearms. If it did then Switzerland would be awash in blood since there is virtually no firearm legislation there. The culture of the USA is more violent then many countries, therefore there are more murders. There are also countries with a near to complete prohibition on firearms that are much more violent then the US, such as Brazil.
END OF LINE.
How about we get to the root of the problem, rather then making our selves feel better. The vast majority of murders are committed by people that are A) crazy or B) desperate. Those are the two we need to focus on because they are the highest risk to the general population. Someone killing someone because they are a scorned lover or because they had a face to face altercation are not as great of a risk to the greater population. Crazy people are generally the number one demographic for killing people on a large scale and are the greatest threat for random acts of violence. They should have far more restrictions placed on their interaction with society, and that alone would seriously cut down on incidents such as this. There also needs to be far better diagnosing and monitoring of people who are either troubled or potentially troubled. A kid such as the one involved in the VA Tech shooting had no business being in class, let alone around other kids.
I for one value the life of the functional member of society over those who are dysfunctional and dangerous. Those who have medical or psychological conditions that limit their ability to function in society need to be isolated and monitored. They may have rights, but their rights should not endanger other peoples rights and lives.