Last week news reports indicated that some groups were upset that some states were slow in reporting the psychiatric conditions of those who have been committed in those states. In Alabama this week, accused cop killer Farran Barksdale was to have a hearing scheduled to determine his mental competence to stand trial. State senator and renown demagogue Tom Butler has already made a scapegoat of Mr. Barksdale in legislation designed to narrow the margins for those branded as “mentally ill” if they determine they want to buy a gun. So, which will it be? If he’s competent to stand trial, then isn’t he also competent to have purchased the gun? If they have said he can’t have a gun, then how can the poster boy for Tom Butler’s war on the right to bear arms be considered fit to stand trial? Not to mention that Tom Butler also has a conflict of interest in the equation as his primary profession is that of a pharmacist. The more folks he can put down, and dope up, while advancing his own personal political agenda, the more bucks that go into his pocket, and the pockets of his health care professional buddies. On top of all that, statistics have repeatedly shown that people branded as “mentally ill” are no more likely than the general population to commit violent crimes, or shoot innocent people with a gun. This is a dangerous trend, and the brakes should be put on right now.
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© 2007, 2012 – Jim Casey
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