Accused Colorado killer James Holmes, charged with 24 counts of murder after a shooting spree inside a movie theater, was being treated for mental illness. In fact, his psychiatrist was part of a special team set up for students who might be suicidal or pose a threat to others. It's unclear at this point whether Holmes was being monitored by that team or whether he had sought help on his own. But what is clear is that a mentally unstable person was allowed to accumulate an arsenal.
Does the Second Amendment extend that far? Should the government allow a mentally ill person, one who is under a doctor's care, to possess firearms? Once a person is prescribed mood-altering medications, shouldn't that person be deprived of the opportunity to shoot and kill innocent people?
Failed West Easton Borough Council candidate Tricia Mezzacappa, by her own admission, is under medical care for "anxiety, fear and stress." In court documents, she claims to be under the influence of medication so potent that she's unfit to stand trial in my defamation suit against her. Yet at the same time, she managed to acquire a license to carry a concealed weapon.
As soon as she got her permit, she celebrated by publishing a very bizarre video depicting scantily clad women holding and shooting guns, NRA emblems, Marines, herself, her pig and a coffin. The video ends with a picture of West Easton Borough's webpage.
Interestingly, the audio that Mezzacappa loaded with this video, Pumped Up Kicks, concerns a troubled high school student who discovers his father's gun and is about to embark on a homicidal rampage.
Last week, according to a WFMZ-TV69 account, Mezzacappa "feared for her safety" after seeing me at a meeting of local Republicans. Of course, that fear, if it existed at all, was irrational.
But if just seeing me in public is cause enough for Mezzacappa to fear for her safety, what's to prevent her from pulling out her pea-shooter and blasting away? As if to make that point herself, she published a blog on Friday, entitled "I carried a gun and it was heavy."
According to Mental Health America President David Shern, people with mental illnesses are no more likely to be violent than the general population. But even he concedes that the "acutely ill" should be denied access. I would think that if a person is under the influence of medication so potent that she's unfit to stand trial, that person is acutely ill.
Unfortunately, Pennsylvania is a "shall issue" state, so the Sheriff has next to no discretion in issuing carry permits. But if someone is under medical care for anxiety and is actually being prescribed mood-altering drugs, shouldn't that person be forced to surrender his or her firearms?
48 comments:
it's the slutty high heels. they are pinching her nerves all the way to her pea brain.
The answer is yes...but it will never happen in this country. Everyone gets guns ...It's the American way...all under the pretense of that we need to arm ourselves in case the British ever return and invade us again since we don't have a sophisticated standing army to protect us.
wow this post jumps right over the libel/slander line.
Hardly. Mezzacappa, by her own admission and in publicly filed court documents that she herself verified, claims to be under medication for anxiety, stress and fear. By her own admission, she claims to be taking Class IV Controlled Substances. By her own admission, she claims to be unfit to stand trial.
Also, immediately after getting a LTV, it is Mezzacappa who published a very bizarre video containing the lyrics of Pumped p Kicks. It is Mezzacappa who last Friday felt some compulsion to write again about firearms.
I don't give a shit about what you anonymously think about libel. I do give a shit about getting shot by someone who claims she's "afraid" bc she happens to see me in a public setting.
Well, this is a good way to avoid getting shot by a lunatic, that's for sure.
And yes, of course firearms should be denied to mentally ill people. It is absolutely comical that that is even a discussion point. It just shows that the opposition to such common sense regulations are irrational.
"Well, this is a good way to avoid getting shot by a lunatic, that's for sure."
I'd rather draw attention to the problem than meekly remain silent. But that's me.
Might makes right.
Just ask Chairman Pawlowski and the NIZ Cheerleaders.
Shaibu!
VIKTOR TIKHONOV
The problem, in my opinion, isn't that mentally ill people shouldn't have guns, but where do you draw the line on such a slippery slope issue?
Incrementalism WILL move that line slowly but surely until even aspirin becomes the excuse to take our guns and further infringe on our second amendment rights.
PS - Just watched the video. The only bizarre thing I saw was the pig and the West Easton shot.
Afterall, who doesn't appreciate a nice looking lady pictured with a gun?
Ronnie, Don't you think the accompanying audio was a little disconcerting? Or the coffin? Or the West Easton Boro webpage? I do.
Do we have a second amendment right to own a gun? Yes. Should there be reasonable limits on this right? Yes. We all have a first amendment right to free speech, but we don't have the right to yell fire in a crowded movie theater.
The whole problem surrounding gun ownership rights is the distinction between needs and wants. You may want to own a semi-automatic machine gun but you don't need it. It is/should be about common sense and public safety. The NRA and gun fanatics work every day to blur that line.
Same thing with the mentally ill, although there is always a need to draw that line somewhere. And drawing that line is hard. I'm no gun advocate but why are you assuming she is "mentally ill?" Because she is taking some drugs? Does that make everyone with anxiety unfit to own a gun?
And do you really think that everyone who says they are "unfit" to stand trial really believes that they are, or are? That just might be a legal tactic she and her lawyers are using to kick the can down the road. If they push a trial off for 9 or 12 months for something as emotional as what you and Mezzacappa have going on it takes some of the wind out of your sails and makes it harder to convict.
I am not assuming anything. By her own admission, she is under the influence of Schedule IV Controlled Substances. By her own admission, she is unfit to stand trial. By her own admission, she is under a doctor's care. By her own admission, she is being treated for anxiety. In recent court documents, she claimed that the mere sight of me in public made her fearful and forced her to flee. That is irrational behavior by an irrational person.
And you defend it by arguing that she must be lying in sworn court documents. Wow!
And by the way, there is nothing "emotional" going on with me. She has defamed me repeatedly and I have sued her for the damages she has caused.
The video is flat out crazy. And yes the mentally ill should not have firearms.
I saw you at the super market and almost shit myself. You scare the shit out of anyone Bernie. Seriously Bernie, don't let that woman get to you. Now for your gun control issue. Their are plenty of gun laws to address this issue of mentally fit. One is you have to be of sound mind.You can't pass new legislation everytime a murder happens. Take for example the guy and his wife who were fighting over what they were going to have for supper. He wanted leg of lamb which he bought several days earlier and she made him Hamburgers. He goes to freezer gets the frozen leg of lamb out of the freezer and threw it at her, hitting her in the head. She later died. There you have it. Now we should outlaw frozen leg of lamb because it is a dangerous weapon. How about dangerous automobiles. Do you really need cars with all that horsepower? let's legislate no cars with horsepower exceeding 100 horses because they become dangerous weapons in the hands of teens and irresponsible adults. No different than seeing a shrink to address anxiety problems. Doesn't mean you're crazy.
Bernie,
Agreed, the coffin is weird too...I missed that one, but I did mention the West Easton page shot also being bizarre. The music didn't phase me either way. Not my personal favorite style of music and so I wasn't really listening.
Good topic for discussion though. Regardless of the feud you two have going, I'd like to know what the point of her video is...and why the peculiar inclusions (aside from the video itself)of the pig, the coffin, and the West Easton Boro have to do with one's carry permit.
Bernie,
Agreed, the coffin is weird too...I missed that one, but I did mention the West Easton page shot also being bizarre. The music didn't phase me either way. Not my personal favorite style of music and so I wasn't really listening.
Good topic for discussion though. Regardless of the feud you two have going, I'd like to know what the point of her video is...and why the peculiar inclusions (aside from the video itself)of the pig, the coffin, and the West Easton Boro have to do with one's carry permit.
@ 9:56 AM
a semi automatic machine gun? That is impossible, a machine gun is by definition full automatic. Just FYI
I think you are thinking of a semi-automatic "assault weapon".
It's too bad Flocking Fleck is already married. Ms. Mezzacappa & the Fleckster would make a perfect couple.
I even wouldn't match the Fleckster with Mezzacappa. A nut shouldn't carry a gun!
The musical selection in the video is important because of the songs lyrics and meaning. As Bernie accurately describes, Pumped Up Kicks describes a murderous teen who is getting ready to shoot his gun at the kids with better shoes than him. It's quite diabolical. TM did not pick this song out of a hat or because of the catchy tune.
The Dark Knight Doofus used gasoline in his movie theater rampage ...
... so that means we now need to ban gasoline, too.
LOGICAL PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL DEMOCRAT READY TO RE-ELECT OBAMA
Anonymous 7;44AM
Having worked in a store that sold a wide variety of guns I can tell you with certainty that not all who want to purchase a gun get that gun. A report is called into the commonwealth and if the person on the other side of the line tells you not to issue, you do exactly that. Are there individuals who do not obey that, yes there are just as there are those who get drunk and drive and yet they have a license.
How did she answer the question on the LTCF application as well as subsequent firearms ownership applications concerning mental illness. If she answered in the affirmative, wouldn't the Sheriff be obligated to deny her LTCF application and permit? If she answered in the affirmative, wouldn't the Pa State Police have denied her weapons purchases?
PS: If she lied, I believe she could be looking at a host of criminal charges.
Well Bernie you really have had your "jump the shark moment", ala the Fonze.
Taking medication and even seeing a therapest is a far cry from being mentally ill. If you were to step back from the issue for a moment and think rationally, many, many gun owners would come under that umbrella.
Most attorneys I know have not only guns but concelaed permits amd most have or are in thearpy of some sort and on one of a hundred different medications. Are they crazy, no. Annoying and assholes, yes but crazy no
The line between being mentally incompetent to own a firearm and having emotional issues is huge. As a one time civil libertarian you should know this.
Only a doctor and then a judge can and should be able to deprive a person of their rights. Nothing an anghry ex-suitor who rightly or wrtongly is upset with a woman he once dated, should be considered.
Evertime you broach thisd Tricia topic you come as the person needing treatment. By the way, I am much more comfortable with people in treatment and taking a medication than the millions of undiagnosed paranoids and bi-polars running around self medicating and waiting for the black helicopters.
You have been airing the particulars of your ungoing litigation via your blog for months. We all know the staus by now. We are all aware of her tactic to avoid the trial. E are also aware you want all to see her as a threat to your safety. Actually, she comes off as the other half of a broken up romantic duo. Having dealt with divorces, I see it all the time. HE IS DANGEROUS, SHE IS UNSTABLE.
Pleae leave this Tricia thing and get back to politics.
"Taking medication and even seeing a therapest is a far cry from being mentally ill. If you were to step back from the issue for a moment and think rationally, many, many gun owners would come under that umbrella."
That is true, but in this case, TM herself has apparently stated that she is unable to stand trial because of this mental condition and medication.
If she can't stand trial, how can she carry a concealed weapon????
After reading this, is this not similar to the whole Penn State issue, the moral obligation of some to prevent further harm or in this case, any harm?
Well monkey momma, that is an interseting point and one that will never be settled on a blog.
The overall point seemed to be the correlation between taking medication and not being stable enough to carry a gun.
Now, in this instance there is no question a great deal of "emotional" baggage is attached to the discussion. As to Ms. Mezz, if someone feels a specific individual is too unstable to own a firearm then take it to court.
As to whether medication, therapists or even stating you are unable to deal with the rigors if a trial, mean you are incompetent to own a weapon, I would say that is too broad an interpertatiion regarding an individuals rights. I would be more thanm happy to litigate that case.
3:28, That's a problem. You see, LTC applications are not considered public records.
"Taking medication and even seeing a therapest is a far cry from being mentally ill"
This is just plain idiocy. If whatever is troubling you emotionally is enough to require a doctor's visit and mood altering substances, it's mental illness. Doctors do not prescribe Schedule IV Controlled Substances to perfectly healthy people.
Bernie,
In the DSM alcoholism is a metal illness and one that goes unaddresed by many!
Alcoholism is certainly a disease and I do not think an active alcoholic should own a firearm or have a LTC. There is a lot of violence associated w/ alcohol, and I'd support any effort to prevent alcoholics from getting LTCs.
No!, Give them more Medication!
No!, Give them more Medication!
maybe doc snow can save her
You can be arrested two times for DUI and still have your LTC. However, if you had a DUI prior to 1991 you can't even own a gun. Not even for hunting. Back then you were a felon. today it is an illness. I still like the guy with the frozen leg of lamb. I think he might have mental problems.
Yes, right after people too stupid, lazy or devious to procure and produce their free ID give up their right to vote.
-Clem
This is a nonsense issue. Whats the problem O'Hare, lost your balls. You must delete and censor all who show what an ass you are.
No wonder the broad dumped your Nancy boy ass!
Time for you to take your drug cocktail.
In Bernies world over 75% of the people with guns would lose them.
Also more violent acts are committed by poeople not seeing therapists and on medication then those who do.
Stop being such a narrow minded ass O'Hare. Get off this Mezzacappa kick. You are coming off as the stalker.
Like I said, time for your drug cocktail.
Bernie,
You left out one important fact your readers should know. Ms. Mezzacappa is a Registered Nurse, and she relies on her experience as a nurse in forming her expert opinion.
Here's what she actually said in her legal pleading: "It is my opinion (as a Registered Nurse of 10 years) that due to the potency of this medication, I would be unfit to stand trial or provide for my own defense pro-se."
My question: Is she fit to work as a nurse if, in her own opinion, she is not fit to stand trial or defend herself?
She should not be allowed within ten miles of any patient.
I've seen her resume. It's like an episode of that old cartoon -
The world of Commander McBragg.
-Clem
Clem eats shit and speaks crap!
Ah, simpleton strikes again.
You make that up all on your own, did ya?
-Clem
Only in America would we even have to ask this question. If the mentally ill couldn't own guns, who would be left in the NRA?
Seriously, mental illness falls on a continuum. There is crazy good (maybe you and this blog) and crazy bad (you know it when you see it). When do you know that you've crossed the line?
Yeah, I take your point. Let's say someone has OCD. I don't think that person should be deprived of a LTC. But a person with depression or schizophrenia should probably surrender his LTC.
Post a Comment