Mass shootings in America occur so frequently-nearly 30 in the 14 years since the Columbine High School murders-it’s a wonder that they garner as much attention as they do. The frequency may help to explain why a push for gun control after 20 schoolchildren and six adults were killed in the Newtown, Conn., massacre fizzled.
Nine months later, the country is again wringing its hands after a lone gunman killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard. But this latest rampage, like those before it, wasn’t just due to the too-easy access to guns in this country.
Other mass shootings also put the spotlight on a national mental-health system that has neither the authority nor ability to monitor and medicate everyone with an illness that might lead him to kill indiscriminately.
Given his background, it’s hard to believe Aaron Alexis was given clearance to work at the installation. Alexis was almost kicked out of the Navy after shooting into a neighbor’s apartment before being allowed a routine honorable discharge in 2011.
Cited at least eight times in his four year Navy career for misconduct, he had a record of violence, including two shooting incidents, and was described by his father as having problems managing anger.
Editorial, Pages 10 on 09/23/2013