So in the wake of this Sandy Hook massacre, I was thinking of solutions to maybe help prevent or mitigate such awful tragedies in the future. My thinking is that there is going to have to be a well thought out and multi-pronged approach to address this growing problem in our country.
I think the why is important, but thinking about it more I’m just not sure if there is enough data to really come to any definitive conclusion other than to profile white male, trench coat wearing, loner, weirdoes who have awful parents.
So far what I’ve seen as common threads is that the shooters fit the profile of a loner, overly shy, intelligent and parents that are overly demanding etc.
Here is what I’m thinking would be a good approach.
1. Outlaw large magazines, maybe 5-7 shots is enough? Large magazines are too big of risk to public safety in light of events this year.
2. Strongly encourage parents to take classes on good parenting before they have kids. Maybe goverment can mail information out.
3. Restructure our tax code to optimize households so that both parents don’t have to work. It seems to me that in the 50s overall family life was better, and we need to get back to that in a way that isn’t demeaning to women.
4. Have one armed security person in every school, and metal detector entrance checks.
5. Encourage more concealed carry permits. These individuals will be an unknown random security variable in all public venues and is a good deterrent.
6. Ensure that mental health programs and institutions are well funded. I would gladly pay more tax for this.
7. The big one. Institute a mandatory household mental health score, which uses the floor value as the overall household grade.
Every household has a credit score, that credit score is used as means of access to things like good interest rates, special deals etc. It’s in everyone’s best interest to improve their credit score and protect it. What if we had a mental health score per household? Every student upon leaving high school is graded on their mental health. This data can be used as a means to approve the purchase of firearms, chemicals and other things that might wreak havoc. The government could use this data to legally confiscate registered firearms when household mental health scores fall below a certain threshold.
I know what you’re thinking that’s not fair. Part of the new law could be that this data could not be used to discriminate against a job, or anything other than purchasing deadly merchandise.
I believe this household score would motivate parents to do a better job, and stop ignoring their kids! If they want their child to score well on the mental health examination they will work hard to ensure that their children are not trench coat wearing introverted weirdoes.
How about you, what do you feel is good solution to these problems facing our country?