Follow the Science
You say that as clinicians the community must "do more research into early detection into people who might become mentally deranged." ... Sorry, immoral political correctness prevented Virginia Tech school officials from preventing the shootings, (they already had knowledge of the shooter's mental problems but refused to notify anyone). That's your first hurdle; and it's insurmountable in today's politically-correct society.

As for so-called 'gun control', follow the science:


/geo ex machina

The Science is found here
The rigorous science is found here: "More Guns, Less Crime", Dr. John Lott, University of Chicago

/geo ex machina

waiting
While we are waiting to sort all this out and 'study it' we should send our kids to Canada, Norway, England, France...all safer from gun violence on an order of magnitude!Less guns..less crime...oh sorry the science says that can't be right...well let's continue the discussion and in the meantime put our kids in a safe place while everyone debates!

Don't cross the Atlantic
The only ones waiting to "sort out" the science, are the ones still ignorant of it. Only one public policy has ever been shown to reduce the death rate from shooting crimes: concealed-carry laws. Do your homework.

In the meantime, --you haven't heard? There's an epidemic of stabbings in the U.K. Violent criminal behavior --even in 'Merry Ole England'. And because the police are unarmed, criminals commit violent and evil crimes in the U.K. entirely without fear!

If you want to put your kids in a "safe place", keep them out of government schools. Everything that is wrong in primary education can be found in government schools.

Uk is pretty safe...

Hmmm the UK is 41!*forty one* or 4100% times lower than us, I'm not sure that translates into an 'epidemic' of violence on merry ole england, more like...the exact opposite!

Japan 0.07
South Korea 0.13
Hong Kong 0.19
Singapore 0.24
UK 0.25...gun related deaths
Taiwan 0.42
Spain 0.63
India 0.93
Ireland 1.03
Australia 1.05
Germany 1.10
Greece 1.50
Italy 1.28
Norway 1.78
Israel 1.86
New Zealand 2.66
Austria 2.94
France 3.00
Switzerland 3.50
Finland 3.64
Canada 4.78



Sources: CDC, UN, Wikipedia

More of the chart
Country
Total firearm-related death rate Homicides
El Salvador 50.36 50.36
Jamaica 47.44 47.44
Honduras 46.70 46.70
Guatemala 38.52 38.52
Swaziland 37.16 37.16
Colombia 28.11 27.10
Brazil 19.01 18.10
Panama 12.92 12.92
Mexico 1.14 10.00
United States 10.2 3.7
Philippines 9.46 9.46

makes sense
I suppose if you live in Africa like Swaziland or in a drug cartel place like south or central america one would expect to face a few life challenges...!sort of par for the course...

Science requires homework
Your sterile numbers have no context.

How many of the numbers you cite are deaths from lawfully armed citizens stopping criminals? You don't want to know because it doesn't fit your narrative. You count the dead; we count the living. Do some homework on killings that were stopped by lawfully armed citizens who saved lives.

Although, if you're so concerned with numbers of the dead, in 2011, 1.2 million human lives were killed by the forceps of medical scientists...

These deaths far exceed any by a criminal-shooter.

/geo ex machina

actual crime rates..
My question is why is Canada so high on the list...no guns, nobody locks their doors, marijuana is legal, so is gay marriage...what is the crime in Canada...being too happy?!


# 1 United States: 11,877,218
# 2 United Kingdom: 6,523,706
# 3 Germany: 6,507,394
# 4 France: 3,771,850
# 5 Russia: 2,952,370
# 6 Japan: 2,853,739
# 7 South Africa: 2,683,849
# 8 Canada: 2,516,918
# 9 Italy: 2,231,550
# 10 India: 1,764,630
# 11 Korea, South: 1,543,220
# 12 Mexico: 1,516,029
# 13 Netherlands: 1,422,863
# 14 Poland: 1,404,229
# 15 Argentina: 1,340,529
# 16 Sweden: 1,234,784
# 17 Belgium: 973,548
# 18 Spain: 923,271
# 19 Chile: 593,997
# 20 Thailand: 565,108
# 21 Ukraine: 553,594
# 22 Austria: 552,411
# 23 Finland:

Context
Explain what your numbers mean, in context.

/geo ex machina

Improve personal responsibility
The weapon used at Sandy Hook was legal. However the perpertrator's mother was certainly remiss in not using a gun safe to keep her obviously disturbed son from gaining access to these weapons. Even with strict gun control personal responsiblity and common sense is a must.

logic
"if having more guns actually made you safer, than shouldn't the country that has the most guns, be the safest..?" simple question posted by Michael Moore...I"m not sure what the answer is....

Incorrect logic, spiced with hypocrisy
Want to bet that your Hollywood elites employ armed personal protection for their safety? --but so do elite lawmakers who infringe on our 2nd Amendment protections. Complete hypocrisy.

In any case, the Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that the police do not have a constitutional duty to protect a citizen from harm.

/geo ex machina

Massacres
A crazed Canadian engineering student rounded up fellow female engineering students and shot them with a legally obtained gun.

Clearly, Canadian gun laws are not sufficient in preventing massacres.

On October 30, 1985, Sylvia Seegrist, a 25-year old paranoid schizophrenic, went on a shooting spree in the Springfield Mall outside of Philadelphia, killing three and wounding seven others until she was disarmed by other shoppers. I was there, in the mall only stores away from where she dropped her victims. The crazed woman was known to have mental issues and her mother refused to have her committed only weeks before she went “venting with a gun”. Clearly, a family member may not be capable of doing the right thing, and the laws prevent the community from taking control of the situation.

Arm a teacher with a weapon in the classroom? What is to prevent a teacher from being the crazed individual? Maybe that would be ok, but only if the students were also armed.

Personally, my experience leads me to believe that the only way to reduce “venting with a gun/bomb/whatever” is to clean up our social mores. Each and every one of us. Maybe having a parent at home and available to comfort others when they need to talk? Not necessarily your kids, but maybe someone else’s child who needs help. Maybe a neighbor or someone else in the community? So much is missed when everyone is running themselves ragged. Maybe if you cleaned your own home, you would discover those overlooked clues that something is “not right”. Cut back on your things, find a way to simplify and find enjoyment with others. Unplug the internet/tv/earbuds – and do more “social” work face to face. Sort of like the old beat cop on foot – just keeping an eye and ear to the ground.

Start listening to your patients. They are making themselves available to you. Perhaps they can’t communicate that their body is broken because they are angry, frustrated, and/or fearful. They come to you because they trust you and are asking for help. Instead of shoving them out the door after 5 minutes, take a bit of time to listen then ask them to return for further discussion.

The solution is not going to happen with gun control. There is no easy fix.

Massacres indeed! (impotence, too)
"...the only way to reduce venting with a gun/bomb/whatever is to clean up our social mores..." You hit the nail on the head.

But until then! —political correctness has rendered medical and psychiatric authorities shy and impotent, —and they refuse to report serious problems that they have knowledge of: VA Tech; Ft. Hood, Texas; ad infinitum.

Do you remember what happened just before the Government confiscated the weapons of New Orlean's citizens following Hurricane Katrina's aftermath? ... Henry Glover, a 31-year-old black man was shot and killed by New Orlean’s police officers. They also burned his body.

/anti-2nd Amendment tyranny of the worst kind.