What really caused the Vegas shooting

The shooting in Las Vegas was on a scale of unspeakable horror. Dozens killed. Hundreds wounded. Predictably, the left immediately launched into an issue they keep in their hip pocket. Gun control. It’s an understandably emotional response, but it doesn’t get to the heart of the problem.

Before I get to that I need to point out a fallacy of the gun control argument. The most obvious flaw is the number of weapons this monster possessed. If news reports are accurate, he had 23 guns in the hotel room and another 19 at home. One has to wonder how he got so many guns into a hotel room undetected, however the left misses one simple point. More guns doesn’t make one more dangerous. You can only shoot one gun at a time. In fact, if he were putting down one gun and picking up another it would stand to reason that he would do less damage, not more. What matters is the capacity of the gun he used to kill.

We won’t know for sure until the investigation is complete, but it appears he managed to convert a semi-automatic rifle to automatic. In other words, he was able to turn a semi-automatic weapon into a machine gun. There is such a thing as a “full auto kit.” However, these kits are restricted by the 1986 law that bans civilian purchase of automatic weapons. The gun control that would’ve stopped this killer from obtaining a fully automatic weapon already exists. Yes, he had dozens of guns, but it appears the killing machine he used was obtained illegally. Passing more laws is not going to change that.

Now let’s get on to the real problem. The guy was nuts. We seem to have a mental illness crisis in this country. One in six of us is on some sort of psychiatric drug. This includes antidepressants and sedatives. That doesn’t mean that if you’re taking an antidepressant you’re psychotic, but it does mean that roughly 42 million adults are on some sort of psychiatric medication.

If you’ve ever known anyone who’s bipolar you know the difficulty is in knowing where the person ends and the disease begins. We should have the same compassion for mental illness that we do for physical illness but we don’t. It’s easy to dismiss people with mental illness. They’re odd or they’re crazy. Stay away from that guy, he’s nuts. We’ve all heard it. We’ve all said it. It’s part of what causes people with mental illness to go through life undiagnosed.

I can’t imagine that was the case with the Las Vegas shooter. You don’t get that mentally ill without someone noticing. Unfortunately with mental illness too many of us notice, too few of us help.

But what can we do? I don’t for a second think we need the guys in white jackets with nets prowling the streets in a padded van. However, there are far too many people who are dangerously mentally ill roaming free. Loved ones are oftentimes reluctant to report the danger signs out of compassion for the sick person, but you wouldn’t allow a person you knew had cancer to remain untreated,

The compassionate course of action is to help people you suspect are unstable get well. You don’t do that by ignoring the illness. If you suspect someone is mentally ill take action. Talk to one of their family members. If it’s your family member, talk with a mental health professional. 

Mental illness is bad enough. A mentally disturbed individual with an automatic weapon is a horribly lethal combination.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

Blaming everyone but themselves

I have long preached about the virtues of personal responsibility.  Far too many people expect someone else – oftentimes the government – to assume responsibility for their actions.  I had a caller to my show several years ago who was a second-grade teacher.  A little girl in her class didn’t know her colors and the teacher was concerned the child might have a learning disability. She scheduled a parent/teacher conference with the child’s mother and asked her if she had ever taught the child her colors.  The mother responded, “That’s what Head Start is for.”

Because the government has swooped in and taken responsibility for so many things too many people have shirked personal responsibility assuming if they fail it’s someone else’s fault.  Take the case of a 36-year-old Tennessee man who’s suing Apple Computers.  Why?  Because he says he’s addicted to pornography which led to his wife leaving him and taking his child.  He’s suing Apple because he said his MacBook wasn’t equipped with a filter that kept him from viewing pornography.  “The Plaintiff became depressed and despondent, unable to work as a result of observing porn on his MacBook,” the complaint reads.

Let me just say right up front that I believe claims of sex addiction are bogus.  Some psychiatrists claim that sex addicts suffer from neurochemical changes similar to adrenaline rushes which cause the addiction.  I suspect similar neurochemical changes can be observed in people who ride roller coasters but they haven’t come out with a roller coaster addiction.  At least, not yet.  I can’t wait for the first meeting of Roller Coasters Anonymous.

I was in Vegas recently.  A guys trip.  We took in a show, relaxed and did a bit of gambling.  I always take a set amount of cash in my pocket for gambling.  Inevitably, I always lose it but I build it into the cost of the trip.  My goal is to make the money last the whole weekend so I can enjoy the challenge of the game and camaraderie with friends.  There are ATMs all over the casinos.  I don’t use them.  Not that I haven’t been tempted to but I have something that’s called “self-restraint.”

Same thing with my computer.  I can access the very same porn sites as the guy who’s suing Apple.  I just choose not to.  We live in an instant gratification society.  With that comes certain responsibilities.  You have to know when to say no or, at least, no more.  The guy suing Apple is looking for someone to blame.  He wants to shift the responsibility for losing his family onto someone else when he is solely to blame.

Here’s the funny part.  The dude claims he accidentally accessed pornography when he mistyped Facebook.  Instead of typing the a-c-e he says he typed u-c-k.  Sure you did, pal.  He also claimed he had never seen pornography before.  He’s 36!  He says once he did, he preferred the women he saw on the screen to his own wife.  Sounds like he had a real solid marriage.

His wife better be darn glad she got away from this idiot.  The sad thing is he’s not alone.  Millions of people are blaming someone else right now for the situations they’re in.  Life hasn’t always gone my way but I’m man enough to admit when it’s my fault.  Sitting around and looking at dirty pictures all day is no one’s fault but his.  If he’s that weak-minded did it ever occur to him to just get rid of the laptop? 

Moral of the story?  Sometimes an Apple a day keeps the wife away.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.