[troutkiller]

...if Adam Lanza was your child? If you had a member of your family living with you who was mentally-ill? Would you give up your shooting hobby? Remove your guns from the house?

Jeff Williams' son, Andy, was one such family member. He used his father's gun, a gun they often shot together, to shoot up Santana High School in 2001.

Charles Andrew Williams - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm not trying to put anyone on the spot with this post or pass some moral judgment. Just wondering how people deal with family members with mental illness and guns, Thanks.

 

[sparks9293]

Gun vaults or safes. All children should not have access to your firearms. Mine don't and they are trained and shoot regularly in competitions.

 

[TaurusMe]

If a large safe is not in the budget, get a smaller safe and at least lock up the bolt. Popular or not, I've commented before that I blame the mother for leaving the guns accessible to a mentally ill child.

 

[sporty45]

Would I get rid of my guns? NO
Would I keep them locked up? Already do!

 

[JoshNix9]

Depending on the level of mental illness and type (I unfortunately have some experience in my family with bi-polar and schizophrenia) I may store them in another location outside the home aside from a personal defense weapon which would be on my person AT ALL TIMES. Sometimes a safe, even a good one may not be enough for an extremely intelligent, highly motivated mentally ill person. My sister took a sawzall to the floor to remove a bolted down safe to steal jewelry from my mother. If in that position, I may keep a locker at a friends house or at a gun club while there is a high risk person at home. In other cases, a decent safe would be fine. Also, TaurusMe has a very good point. Making the firearms paperwight by storing the bolt/slide/firing pin elsewhere or taking them with you when not home adds a significant extra layer of protection.

This is a very tough converstaion to have but it seems only responsible gun owners are the ones engaging the issue. Everyone else just seems to want to ban everything.

 

[Paul81]

I think it's more of a willingness to accept your kid is mentally ill.
Yes she knew he was ill, but couldn't/wouldn't accept it to the extreme that it was. . I'm sure if she thought he was capable of this, precautions would have been taken.


That being said.... Mentally ill should not have access to weapons. But a part .of me can't help but think ... He could have just as easily driven through the playground during recess.

 

[HD-Mike]

Would I get rid of my guns? NO
Would I keep them locked up? Already do!

Same for me!

 

[GunsandNoses]

I am not trained to handle crazy, send them to the professionals.

 

[Bender]

Lock em up and get help.

 

[carlstaurus]

you have to be a responsible gun owner.

 

[tazelmo]

Can`t answer because it is the wife and I living in our home.. We are not mentaly challenged. No guns here all lost in canoe crash..

 

[Grumpy]

I agree that a safe/vault is necessary if you have any young ones in the house. IMO, the mother of the Sandy Hook shooter made a terrible mistake beleiving that her son was just "mixed up" and that he was not capable of doing something like this. He could not have hidden these tendancies from his mother. Too have that type of firepower out in the open is just not being a responsible gun owner.

 

[JoshNix9]

Mental illness is very difficult to gauge as far as who is capable of what, particularly at the age all of these kids are who are having these violent outbursts. Particularly with scizophrenia, paranoid dilusional and bipolar diseases, this is a time where minor conditions and quirky behaviors which can sometimes be seen as shyness, social awkwardness or just insecurity can can explode into full blown psychosis overnight. The late teens and particularly the early 20's (where all of these mass murderers have seemed to be) are the most defining time in these diseases. They can either fade or without any warning escalate beyond what anyone anticipates. I would presume the medications being "administered" ...read doled out like tic tacs... may cause even greater escalation. In many cases the mentally ill are incredibly intelligent (remember the fine line between crazy and genius is real) and are easily able to play the game to stay off meds or talk their way into trusted situations. If a parent recognizes these traits, and are honest with themselves, perhaps the most responsible gun owner is the one who gives up their guns. At this extreme, there is likely a greater danger to protect the house from within than from outside threats. In any case, no way should someone who has any capacity for mental illness be allowed to desensitize themselves by glorifying death and watr with violent movies, tv, video games etc. This becomes a programmed response to stress and is obviously adding fuel to a fire.

Sorry for the rant, but as someone with close personal experience to this issue, I have educated myself and try to educate people. Sometimes a little knowledge can lead to a lot of understanding.

 

[john_bud]

What about all the hyper violent first person shooter games he was playing?

I really feel separating him from those games would have been the real solution.

 

[Czechbikr]

Maybe we need to add a fifth rule to Col. Cooper's wisdom:

RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED

RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY

Rule III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET

RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET

and

RULE V: INSURE THAT ONLY PERSONS YOU AUTHORIZE HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR FIREARMS

 

[daytonaredeye]

Agree with Czeckers here - all guns under lock and key until ready to approach rule # 1 . . .

 

[ozzy]

I had a dog go rogue and had to put it down. Decisions are based on the outcome.

 

[Wingshot]

Not a fair question unless your standing in that individuals shoes. I would hope that from all of what's been said all over this country in recent months that some help in the way of outreach is offered to just such people. We piss money away on so much ridiculous BS in this tax and spend culture that there should be a little room made to give some tools and resources to parents and family members of dangerously mentally Ill family members. Close down the Methadone clinics! They don't work anyway and Lord knows there are plenty of out of work people with degrees out there, lets help ALL these people. I see a sane society as a somewhat safe society. I hope none of us are ever faced with the OP's question but know that's not the case. Help is needed, help should be given. To the question of firearms? Only an irresponsible gun owner would permit the remote chance of access to those firearms. I've been in homes where people have been locked from the outside for the families safety, it's not a comfortable place to be for anyone.

 

[Lil Beaver]

Keeping the firearms secured is almost a given solution. The primary solution calls for "Tough Love", if a child exhibits mental health problems have them evaluated and commited if the evaluation indicates the need for confined treatment. I know that this is a difficult decision, but that is why they call it "Tough Love"!

 

[loudviking]

I would get rid of the firearms( if I had any) and get said person help.
Only when all is clear would the thought of getting another one feasible.
And if the person was no longer going to be in the home.