Different Takes: Use A Public Health Strategy To Control Shootings; America Is Undergoing ‘Mental Health Crisis’
Editorial pages focus on the mass shooting at a high school in Florida this week.
The New York Times:
How To Reduce Shootings
Inevitably, predictably, fatefully, another mass shooting breaks our hearts. This time, it was a school shooting in Florida on Wednesday that left at least 17 dead at the hands of 19-year-old gunman and his AR-15 semiautomatic rifle. ...So let’s not just mourn the dead, let’s not just lower flags and make somber speeches. Let’s also learn lessons from these tragedies, so that there can be fewer of them. In particular, I suggest that we try a new approach to reducing gun violence — a public health strategy. (Nicholas Krist, 2/15)
The Wall Street Journal:
The Parkland Massacre And The Air We Breathe
All this change, compressed into 40 years, has produced some good things, even miraculous ones. But it does not feel accidental that America is experiencing what appears to be a mental-health crisis, especially among the young. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported as many as 20% of children 3 to 17 have, in any given year, a mental or emotional illness. There is research indicating depression among teenagers is worsening. (Peggy Noonan, 2/15)
The Wall Street Journal:
Responding To Parkland
Add 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz to the list of disturbed young men who have committed mass murder against other young men and women in their communities. ... On Thursday the gun-control side pointed to President Trump’s signing of a bill last year revoking an Obama rule requiring the Social Security Administration to forward to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System the names of disability recipients who need a third party to help them manage their benefits because of a mental impairment. But this overly broad Obama rule was opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union and National Rifle Association. That dispute nonetheless points to another part of the do-something demand: the violently mentally ill. (2/15)
USA Today:
Florida School Shooting Demands More Than Thoughts And Prayers
Tragically, images of traumatized students, rushing single file out of classrooms with their hands in the air under the protective muzzles of police rifles, have become all too familiar. So, too, have the rote responses of leaders complaining vaguely about "absolutely pure evil" running amok (Florida Gov. Rick Scott) or focusing on "mental health" (President Trump), with nary a mention of the weapons of war used to carry out these massacres. The reality is, this should not be an either-or debate between mental health and guns. (2/15)
Boston Globe:
Despite Rhetoric Of Inaction, States Can Help Prevent Mass Shootings
Here’s the reality of gun violence in America. The states with the toughest gun laws have lower rates of gun deaths than states with lax laws. Florida is a lax-law state. No permit or license is necessary to purchase a gun. (Scot Lehigh, 2/15)
The Washington Post:
The Issue Is Not Mental Health. The Issue Is The Guns.
Don’t tell me the issue is mental health. Save the nonsense about “good guys” with weapons somehow being the answer. The truth is this: There would have been no tragic shooting Wednesday in Parkland, Fla. , if a troubled young man had not gotten his hands on a military-style assault rifle and as much ammunition as he wanted. (Eugene Robinson, 2/15)
Dallas Morning News:
Florida Shooting Should Rally North Texas To Improve Safety Net For Vulnerable Students
In the wake of yet another school massacre — this one leaving 17 dead in southern Florida — our thoughts turn not just to the gun in the shooter's hands, but to the darkness in his mind. While this tragedy will no doubt ignite a gun-control debate, our focus today is on another significant fact that surfaces all too often in these stories: The "troubled" Florida shooter has a life story full of warning signs, including concerns around his emotional health. (2/15)
Columbus Dispatch:
We Need Help For Kids With Mental Illness
The National Alliance on Mental Illness Ohio, like all of America, is sickened by the evil act that took place yesterday at a school in Broward County, Florida. Our hearts go out to the victims whose lives were cut short and their families. Words are not enough. We must, as a society, find the root causes for these events to happen time and time again and take meaningful action.We don’t profess to have a solution that would eliminate the chances of this ever happening again, but we do have answers that would lessen the risk factors for acts of violence such as this. (Terry Russell, 2/16)
St. Louis Post Dispatch:
The National Scourge Comes To Parkland, Fla. Ho-Hum.
President Donald Trump, in the traditional griever-in-chief response, said, “To every parent, teacher and child who is hurting so badly, we are here for you, whatever you need, whatever we can do, to ease your pain.” And surely Trump didn’t really mean “whatever we can do,” because that would include confronting the gun lobby. Trump and congressional Republicans quake at the thought. Instead they will cite mental problems, even though just a year ago they rolled back an Obama-era regulation that made it harder for the mentally ill to buy guns. (2/15)
