bofa
New member
The problem with family/ genetics is practically everyone has some form of mental illness in their family. Mental illness is very poorly understood and the term itself is very broad/ vague. How sick is too sick?
On a related note, my wife and I were discussing the irony of all these cops running around MA with AR-type guns. Why is it OK for them to have one and not citizens? You're telling me that they can go through a relatively short period of training to be a LEO and all of a sudden they are worthy of having one? You're telling me that ALL cops are mentally stable and would never do anything violent of foolish with a gun? You're telling me NO cops have troubled kids/ relatives? Not trying to attack police officers here....my favorite uncle is one (retired). I just think it's a little inconsistent. And the LEOs I know personally are big-time 2nd A supporters. Though that might have to do with midwestern culture more than profession.
This is a great point and something I've discussed with others. At some level we have to trust that the guys the government is handing these weapons and training to are stable enough to manage it properly. Large in part, LEOs and military live up to that responsibility every day. However, we also know that, be it underlying mental health, stress, or some new mental trigger, these people can go in the wrong direction.
We trust these guys to do the right thing. The government should trust its law-abiding citizens to do the same. The only difference between me and a cop, realistically, is a trip to the academy. The only difference between me and a grunt, is bootcamp. These people are citizens too, just empowered based on their role in society. To be frank, the mental and educational qualifications for both are far less than my 8-5 requires. Our culture empowers its citizens and we should be able to maintain that. (No, this is not a knock on any men/women that have served in the armed forces or military... I'm just making a point that we have plenty of people capable for these roles that have taken a different path in life and serve a different role in society. Their uniform does not necessarily make them more qualified than a private individual.).