University Of Maryland Shooting: We Need to Focus On Mental Health, Not More Gun Control Laws

On Tuesday morning, just off the University of Maryland, College Park campus, a murder-suicide occurred involving a firearm, which highlights why the discussion of gun control should not be centered around adding draconian laws that would affect law-abiding citizens, but on addressing our mental health system.

At 1 a.m. Tuesday morning, 23-year-old graduate student Dayvon Green reportedly set fire to his residence, waited for his roommates to exit the house, pulled out a 9mm handgun, and started shooting. Once he was done shooting, he turned the gun on himself and took his own life. The incident resulted in two dead, including the shooter, and one wounded.

Investigators do not have a motive for the murder-suicide, but there are confirmed reports that the shooter, Green, was diagnosed as schizophrenic and was being treated with medication for more than a year. Investigators also found on the scene a rifle, baseball bat, and machete in a backpack in Green's possession.

Reports show that Green obtained his firearms legally in April of last year from a gun store just outside of Baltimore. The store owner said that Green, just like any other firearms purchaser, was subject to a background investigation before obtaining the firearms.

It's worth noting that Maryland law requires a 7-day waiting period in addition to registration for regulated firearms which includes the handgun that Green used in this incident.

So one may ask how Green was able to obtain his firearms despite being diagnosed as schizophrenic? After all, Green did have to go through a background check, just like any other regulated firearm purchase in Maryland. The answer is the fundamental failing in mental health reporting.

Back in 2007, the NICS Improvement Act was passed in response to the Virginia Tech shootings. In that case, if the shooter's mental health records had been available to NICS, then the shooter would not have been able to purchase his handguns.

And yet, despite the passage of this legislation, Jared Loughner, who was also mentally ill, was able to legally purchase his handgun that he used to carry out his mass shootingin Tucson, Ariz., in January 2011, and James Holmes was able to legally purchase his firearms to carry out the mass shooting in Aurora, Colo. last summer.

In the case of Dayvon Green, who was diagnosed as mentally ill and on medication, he should have been denied the purchase of his firearms through that same NICS process, but he wasn't. From 1999 to present day, the state of Maryland has only submitted 58 mental health records to the NICS database.

Currently Maryland legislators are offering an assortment of new gun control laws, which are meeting fierce opposition from local gun rights groups. Even Maryland's local Fraternal Order of Police has come out against the legislation. The problem with Maryland's gun control laws is not that we do not have enough of them, as Maryland has some of the strictest in the nation, it is the fact that our government and institutions are failing at executing them.

This University of Maryland shooting should draw attention to the fact that we already have gun control laws on the books that should have prevented situations such as this.

If we truly want fruitful dialogue on how to reduce gun violence, gun control advocates need to be honest and recgonize that we need to address the laws that are already in place instead of adding more laws that would hurt law-abiding gun owners.

Newtown School Board Agrees with NRA: Seeks Armed Guards in Schools

It's been almost two months since the tragedy that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and gun control has dominated political discourse as a solution. The NRA however proposed another solution, which is The National School Shield program which aimed to put armed security in all schools. Gun control advocates immediately criticized and dismissed the proposal saying that the solution to our nation's gun problems is not more guns in schools.

Apparently the Newtown school board disagrees with gun control advocates as they have now requested funding for additional police officers to be assigned to its four elementary schools. The irony in this is that school resource officers are already prevalent in many public schools across the United States, as nearly half of them already have school resource officers. This is not a new idea as it was introduced under the COPS program that was established under President Clinton's administration in 2000.

According to a report by the Department of Justice, under the COPS program, we know that putting police officers in schools does reduce violent crime in those schools as well as provide a feeling of safety and security for students and faculty. The report also outlines the many other advantages of having a school resource officer on site at schools.

During Vice President Joe Biden's most recent fireside chat, Biden was confronted with the statistics on why the original Assault Weapons Ban did not work to reduce violent crime, to which he responded that the reduction of violent crime could be attributed to putting more police officers on the streets, alluding to the very same COPS program. In addition, included in the President Obama's list of executive orders was an order to provide more funding and incentives for schools looking to employ school resource officers.

So why exactly was there such criticism for the NRA's proposal to put armed security in every school to protect our children? Perhaps gun control advocates have been blinded so much by their ideology and aversion to the NRA that any solution being offered by the NRA should be immediately discredited, even if the proposed solution is the same solution proposed by gun control advocates. Where is the ideological consistency here?

Could it be that the primary concern for gun control advocates is not so much the safety of our nation's schools or society, but promoting their ideology and discrediting their political opposition even if their opposition is proposing the very same solutions that they are? We should take note that the NRA and Wayne LaPierre are right when they say that we should focus on what works instead of failed gun control policies that don't work. For some gun control advocates it seems that school and public safety is not their goal. Their goal is to demonize guns, gun owners, and the NRA, and it is time to call them on it.

Thousands Rally in Annapolis Maryland in Opposition to New Gun Control Legislation

On Wednesday February 6th, gun rights advocates rallied Annapolis, Maryland to protest against new gun control legislation as the Maryland State Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on SB 281, named the Firearms Safety Act of 2013. SB 281 contains provisions banning "assault weapons", requiring registration of such weapons, further restricting magazine capacities, and requiring a Firearm Qualification License and fees before purchasing or renting a handgun.

Despite media outlets reporting that only hundreds of people showed up at the rally, unofficial counts put the attendance numbers closer to four thousand. Although national organizations were present, such as the NRA, local communities and groups such as Maryland Shall Issue made up much of the rally efforts. According to some protesters, who arrived as early as 6 a.m. that morning, lines formed around the State Senate building in order to signup to testify against the bill.

The rally officially began at 11:30am, where a few Maryland legislators as well as local political figures such as former Republican Senate candidate Dan Bongino publicly addressed rally attendees. The speeches concluded at approximately 1pm, at which point attendees lined up to enter the Senate building to witness or testify on SB 281.

Shortly thereafter rally attendees were notified that the Senate building doors would be closed, and authorities would not allow anyone else inside except those that signed up that morning to testify. Maryland Delegate Don Dwyer addressed the crowds of people left outside the Senate building and encouraged those in attendance to sign a form to show their opposition to SB 281 that would be entered into the public record.

During the day, testimony alternated between those who supported and those who were against SB 281. Testimony in support of the bill quickly dwindled as the vast majority of attendees packing the Senate building were testifying against it.

Many attendees were dismayed by the attention not being given to the testimony opposing SB 281 noting that many Senators would leave while the hearing was in progress. In addition, a picture has been circulating showing State Senator Raskin playing chess on his computer while testimony was being given in opposition of the bill.

With thousands signing up to testify in opposition of SB 281, the hearing concluded at approximately 9pm without many getting the chance to voice their opposition to it. Despite the tremendous show of opposition organized by local gun rights groups and communities, the Maryland State Senate expects to pass a gun control package and have it on the Governor's desk by the end of the current legislative session.