CO Shootings and Question of Culpability

Colo. church gunman had been kicked out

The third shooting of this type in one week, I think this further highlights my earlier posting. I also wonder, in this case in particular, how much this youth ministry organization participated in this boy's problems and eventual breakdown.

Obviously he had mental health issues that seem to have gone unaddressed, justifying to yourself the actions the shooter took requires serious illness. That isn't to say, however, that this organizations refusal or treatment of this young man didn't add fuel to his madness. It is also likely that the deeply religious environment he grew up in wasn't instrumental in the formation of his warped reality. While the mental illness would have been there either way, the form of their reality comes from that illness warping and interacting with the environment they grow up in. Also, there may or may not have been any help for him or support from his family in getting access to quality professional help.

It continues to feel bizarre to me when families of those who commit violent crimes, especially crimes like these, say they had no idea something like that would happen, their child was always well behaved, they can't understand how their child could have done such a thing. A person doesn't commit such a horrible crime without at least a little warning and certainly not without some long pattern of behavior or health problems. It is partially the responsibility of their family and friends to help prevent events like this from occurring. While they are grief-stricken and baffled, they should have been more careful and supportive beforehand and then they wouldn't be in the situation they are in now.

It is also puzzling that he was let go by the youth ministry due to undisclosed 'health' problems. In a culture of religious conservatism and intolerance that can often be a vague reference to homosexuality, especially when they don't want to admit or accept the idea of gay people being among them. If this man was mentally ill and gay, one can only imagine what treatment he received and rejection he felt from a religious culture he was born into and raised to be a part of.

It would be cruel to say that any of the victims deserved or caused their fate. It is, however, important to remember that in the context of the religious institutions being targeted, it is easier to understand the shooters motives in reference to the issues above and to see the culpability of a culture more willing to toss away someone too different or too sick, than to offer than effective care and open minded compassion.

The Mall Shooting

So here we have another example of where our culture fails to recognize the incredible importance of mental health and not letting people who have health needs slip through the cracks. What I find so incredibly tiring about these situations, which are becoming more and more frequent it seems, is that there are signs that seem to be ignored by those around these unfortunate shooters. This one actually spent time in mental health facilities, and put out messages to friends about his health problems and eventual crime. Where were these friends when he needed their support? More than that, where were they when they received what must have been disturbing messages about what he'd do?

I'm not sure how much responsibility should be placed on the shooter when he actually reached out whether for help or attention to those who should have taken notice, and they did nothing. At the very least they should have turned the messages in to police and perhaps this would have prevented a tragedy. I was watching footage on my local news station and it showed authorities removing rifles from the place where the teenager was living, multiple rifles. The report also said that he managed to fire off thirty rounds in what must have been only a short few minutes, meaning it wasn't a hunting shotgun but some sort of semi-automatic rifle.

Is it so impossible for people, especially the gun lobby, to see the connection between automated weapons and violent crimes? Is it that hard to understand why there should be further restrictions on who can acquire such weapons, where they can purchase them and how long they have to wait while a background check is being processed to insure that they are legally able to purchase the weapon and licensed to do so?

Weapons are designed for one thing only: to kill things. That is the simple truth and has been since the beginning of time. People with mental health problems shouldn't be able to get their hands on guns of any kind, much less semi-automatic military style rifles, and much less multiple guns of that type.

While the boy who committed the crime shouldn't be thought of as a victim and while he bears most of the responsibility for his actions, we can't completely absolve those people around him who he reached out to specifically and our culture more generally of its responsibility in this horrible, and terrifyingly more frequent, crime.

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