Is the U.S. Finally Serious About Gun Control?

Was mental illness a factor in these mass shootings?  Early reports are that the Sandy Hook killer Adam Lanza had Asparger's syndrome, a form of autism, which is considered a developmental disorder, not a mental illness.  Asparger's syndrome is not associated with violence.  There is no evidence that Lanza had a history of violence or treatment for mental illness or was denied access to treatment.  He did not buy the guns in question.  Rather, he took the weapons used in the massacre from his mother's gun collection.  But the larger question is not whether Lanza was mentally ill, but whether he had a history of violence and anger.  The bottom line is that most people who commit violent acts are not mentally ill, and the vast majority of people with a mental illness are no more violent than anyone else.  To suggest otherwise tends to stigmatize the mentally ill.

What's outrageous in the wake of the Sandy Hook killings is that there is now a race to buy semi-automatic weapons in anticipation of a ban on such weapons.  According to Bloomberg,  for example, Walmart has reportedly sold out of semi-automatic rifles in five states,  including Pennsylvania, Kansas and Alabama.

President Obama has tasked Vice President Joe Biden to lead an inter-agency task force to come up with concrete proposals to address gun violence by January.   The NRA  has called Biden the "most anti-gun vice president in American history," and has an "F" rating from the pro-gun group for his voting record in the Senate.  I take the NRA comment as a good sign that Biden is the right choice to lead the task force.

Senator Dianne Feinstein said she would introduce an assault weapons ban -- which expired in 2004 -- on the first day of Congress.  As Senator Feinstein said on her campaign website: "Who needs these military-style assault weapons? Who needs an ammunition feeding device capable of holding 100 rounds? These weapons are not for hunting deer -- they’re for hunting people."

Hopefully, the U.S. is finally ready to get serious about meaningful gun control at the federal level.   Maybe, the murder of 20 children and 7 adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, was the "tipping point."