Two members of Maine’s Congressional delegation say more work needs to be done when it comes to gun control and mental health.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said there’s room for improvement.
“We should examine, among other issues, whether states are reporting data on mentally ill individuals found to be a danger to themselves or others to the national background check database designed to prevent gun purchases by such individuals,” her spokesman, Kevin Kelley, said.
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, said earlier this year that a federal court ruled that only individuals involuntarily committed to a mental health facility by a judge should be prohibited from buying guns.
Maine does share that list, Pingree said. “But there is a bigger issue at play here. The school shooting in Connecticut last week brought renewed attention to the issue of mental health in our communities,” Pingree said.
“It’s clear we are not putting the necessary resources into helping those who suffer from mental illness and that can sometimes contribute to crime and gun violence.” People suffering from mental illness need more treatment options, she said. “It’s time we stopped underfunding those services.”
Responses from U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, and U.S. Sen.-elect Angus King, I-Maine, were not available Wednesday.
Last Friday I went hunting. I had one shotgun and two handguns with me all day. All three were loaded! Not once did any of them fire themselves! Not once did I fire any of them! So obviously guns don’t go around shooting themselves off!
When I got home I heard there had been a shooting. Then I was told by all the Democrats jumping for joy on TV that MY guns were to blame for the shooting! (The same guns that didn’t fire a shot all day!) And that I was to blame for the shooting because I have these evil guns! (The same ME that didn’t fire a shot all day!)
Excuse me if I fail to see how I am responsible, or how MY guns are responsible! I understand that those truly responsible are both dead, so the Democrats can’t blame them. And I understand that Democrats MUST place blame somewhere, anywhere, for everything. The last 4 years have taught us that reality!
I also understand that Politicians will NEVER regulate mental health – it would eliminate their voter base!
What law (not already on the books) would stop a sick mother from giving her mentally ill son guns???
It took this horrific tragedy to again, raise awareness that the USA has failed in its lack of care for the mentally challenged. Several years ago in Mass. during the Dukakis administration, financial cuts were huge, As a result, many people who were getting mental health care, stopped recieving it. Often we see homeless people and doesn’t anyone ever wonder how those people became homeless? Why hasn’t Obama appointed someone to get something done to help more in programs and care for mentally challenged people? Why did he ONLY go after guns???? Senator Collins is again taking a lead and for that, I am greatful.
If she were alive we would see what laws she did not follow like gun locks and if someone uses ur gun that did not have a lock on it you will be held responsible.
So since she’s now (regrettably) dead we can ignore the fact there were laws in place to prevent this?
NO law will EVER force someone who is not interested in following laws to follow them!
To suggest that anyone was “jumping for joy” over this horrific tragedy is incredibly insulting, and downright irresponsible to say. Your use of such hurtful and insensitive rhetoric simply to attempt to make a point demonstrates a complete lack of empathy, common sense and reasonableness on your part.
No one is suggesting that your two handguns and shotgun should be removed, banned, or otherwise restricted anymore than they already are. What people on both sides of the aisle are talking about is a comprehensive look at how we, as a society, can improve our ability to prevent these types of tragedies from occurring again.
Now, you can choose to be part of the solution by contributing well-thought, reasonable input to the discussion, or, you can grasp all your guns, scream defiantly that no one is going to take them away, blame everyone else, and offer nothing in the way of responsible, solution-based input. You, clearly, have chosen the knee-jerk, insulting, selfish and juvenile approach.
I agree, seeing McCarthy, et al , screeching their heads off was VERY insulting, not to mention irresponsible, but that is what I witnessed Friday night! The Libs were ecstatic this had happened and couldn’t wait to jump in front of a camera!
And if you had bothered to listen to them, you would have heard that banning my guns is EXACTLY what they were calling for!
I don’t have to be defiant, I know no one is taking my guns! At least not the first few dozen or so that try, anyway! That’s just reality!
Please keep up the name calling. Thanks to people like you, on the way home from hunting this afternoon, I stopped by the gun shop and bought a nice new DPMS AR-15! I helped stimulate the economy!
You, on the other hand, didn’t stimulate much of anything!
The superior obviously has never been affected by tragedy and probably doesn’t have children. If so …they probably ran away from home. Furthermore, if Mr. Superior needs 2 handguns and a shotgun to go hunting….. then perhaps he should go to the range and target practice to learn how to aim.
NO ONE with a brain was jumping for joy on Friday. What is wrong wth you?
Yeah, and we should do more to prevent half wits from representing us in congress.
AIPAC corporate shills. Both
I think we can all agree that anyone who commits a massacre like that in CT is mentally disturbed.
But this newly focused attention that tries to connect mental illness to violent crime is VERY dangerous.
The huge, vast majority of people with mental handicaps are non violent.
Indeed it is far more likely that a mentally challenged person would be the VICTIM of a violent crime and not a perpetrator.
I hope politicians like Collins and Pingree are not simply using mental illness as a talking point – something that distracts from other concerns while focusing on a group of people that are already marginalized, and have little or no advocacy concerning this problem.
Just my opinion.
exactly. You must first define what type of mental illness would bar someone from buying a gun.
All gun owners should be required to buy Maine potatoes only.
I’m a gun owner, and I buy Maine potatoes! Does that make me one of the good guys?
Not all mental illnesses are the same and not all those with a problem will be or are prone to violence. They shouldn’t be denied the right to defend themselves.
Let’s see, we are going to allow the mentally insane corrupt nothos in Congress, like Collins, King, Michaud and the little blonde billionairette to decide who is insane and who isn’t?
That is insane!
You give the word pastor a bad name.
Christ warned us of people like you. Thanks for making another of His prophecy’s proved correct.
Exactly what I was thinking.
A pastor or religious leader calling someone a “blonde billionairette”?? Sounds just like the church you would want to attend!!! Most good pastors are good people, and not snarky,etc. I think he is bogus.
You THINK? I never would have guessed it!
I say it’s a start, gun bans did not and will not work, they did not work in Norway, and will never work here.
Two sane voices from two women on different “sides of the aisle.” They are exactly right (correct ) on this.
neither of them should own one then.
“This is a matter of vital importance to the public safety … While we recognize that assault-weapon legislation will not stop all assault-weapon crime, statistics prove that we can dry up the supply of these guns, making them less accessible to criminals.” Ronald Reagan
Problem is that now Reagan couldn’t win a Republican primary anywhere (well, maybe he could win Massachusetts ), and those sensible, moderate proclamations would now be derided as liberal gibberish.
For those of us who lived through (survived?) the “Reagan Revolution” it is stunning how quickly the Republican Party has abandoned Reagan’s policies.
NOT a change for the better IMO.
Indeed….Reagan = Bush = Clinton = Bush = Obama
all moderate progressives under corporate control
i can defiantly agree with adding well thought out mental health restrictions. it would be tough to work out, but we can do it
I want the job to decide who is mentally ill. But what they are asking for is to take someone with no criminal record acts of violence and decide if they have the same rights as everyone else.. I don’t think so. Next if when you were a child and played R rated video games you aren’t allowed the right to have a gun.. Time to end the public rating system on who can own a gun.. If you don’t stand up for these people nobody will be there to stand up for you.
The Newtown shooter didn’t own the guns. Anti-gun legislation will not stop people from committing acts of violence.
But if they don’t own Bushmasters, maybe they won’t be able to slaughter so many of the innocent. No home should have automatic weapons like these.
The mentally ill person that killed all of those kids used his mother’s guns. Why would this woman need an assault riffle?
Bob, This person did not use the so called assault rifle in the shootings, They found the gun in the car un fired. Don’t you think it is funny that they are using the assult rifle as an issue when it wasn’t even used.. wow!!! . and as for his mother or anyone else needing or wanting an assult rifle, It’s no of you business what they buy.. They could buy a rocket launcher I wouldn’t care..It is their own business.. go live in North Korea and feel safe there without guns.
Why do you feel the need to post on a forum? Aren’t your views well represented in Washington?
Collins has been in the Senate over 20 years, hmmm,this is just another bandwagon for her to jump on, oh Gawd, a photo op for her.
Ugh. No matter what laws they pass targeting the “mentally ill”, you can rest assured that all that will *really* be accomplished is that the homicidal maniacs and sociopaths among us will still be allowed to have their guns, while the majority of non-violent “mentally ill” such laws attempt to address will be denied another basic Constitutional right…
And it’ll make little to no dent in “gun violence” in America ! But some people will *feel* good about having ” done *something* “…
Do we get free peanuts with this circus ?
Thank you Democrats! Thanks for jumping right on this tragedy to exploit it for all it’s worth!
I never wanted, nor had a need for an AR style weapon. As a hunter, I always used bolt or single-shot rifles.
But your hysteria got me to thinking, so on the way home from hunting today I stopped by the local gun shop and bought a brand new DPMS AR-15 in your honor!
I helped stimulate the economy, and since any new ban would grandfather my new gun, I’m all set!
Thank you again for making it such an easy decision!!!
The 20yo shooter had issues for quite some time, yet the mother wanted to build up his self esteem by allowing him access to firearms….that’s the irresponsible action that has to be open and available to scrutiny(sp?) by law enforcement(or SOMEBODY). That part of it, the access of people with detailed behavioral issues…to firearms, should be an instant no-no. This wasn’t a case of him “snapping” in an instant. Think the media does a great disservice to the public when it doesn’t get its facts correct.
$.01
I am all for more support services for the mentally ill.
But here’s the thing: many individuals who shoot up schools do not fall under the category of mental illness such as psychosis, nor are they necessarily suicidal. What they seem to have in common are personality disorders, a tendency to blame others for their misfortunes, and a sense of entitlement to act out against others to satisfy their sense of injustice. They could still fly below the radar.
And many, even most, mentally ill are not violent.
“not putting the necessary resources into helping those who suffer from mental illness” – well you can’t control what a person does unless they do something first. If someone is not getting treatment for mental illness, there is nothing that can be done directly. Everyone has some rights to privacy – even if they are determined to be a threat by some professional.
What society CAN do is to reach out and be inclusive with those who would otherwise be loners, distant, and detached. We all tend to run the other way when we see someone acting different. In fact, that may be just the opposite of how we should react. People with mental illness usually have some notion that something is wrong with them. That’s a horrible thing to accept about oneself.
Think of the reality faced by someone who is mentally ill who just doesn’t perceive the world the way most of us do. Try spending a day or a week telling yourself that everyone else is right and you are wrong. Try thinking to yourself “Why are people talking about me all the time? Why are they staring at me?” Then do that for a week, a month, a lifetime.
The only people who could have identified the shooters problems were his mother, his employer, his friends, his girlfriend – maybe a few others. However, society teaches us not to speak up when we see red flags around someone’s behavior. Until we teach the need to speak up – without repercussions – we will have these episodes. This guy could have created nearly as much mayhem with a machete or a sword or a chainsaw. Guns aren’t the issue. Our culture is.