Did the NRA just call for more gun control?

Did the NRA just call for more gun control?
 
No, at least not with this statement. That doesn’t excuse the flaming dumpster fire they’ve become, their support for “red flag” gun confiscation, or the bump fire stock debacle though.
 
What they did was simply reiterate federal law. Notice the word “adjudicated” which comes straight from 18 USC 922: anyone who “has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution” cannot buy or own firearms. They added that the mentally ill should be admitted to treatment.
 
The 2012 Aurora, Colorado (Batman), Parkland, and Sandy Hook killers were ones that should have been institutionalized for treatment. Instead, they were allowed out among us with basically no one doing a darn thing. Mental health has been completely ignored in this country for a long time. Deinstitutionalizing the mental health system has flooded the streets with unhealthy people and society has generally ignored them. Ask any cop; the mentally ill are dealt with on a daily basis and are a huge problem.
 
The mentally ill do need treatment. We need institutions that can house and treat people. Some will never get well and need to be under constant supervision and treatment for their own good. If we put dogs in plastic cones so they don’t gnaw at their wounds, why can’t we give medication and therapy in a setting where the mentally ill can’t get out of taking care of themselves?
 
You’re not doing people a favor by letting them out of mental hospitals. I understand that mental hospitals were hellholes, but that’s changed. We’re not freeing people from a Dickensian nightmare, we’re tossing sick people out on the street. Not institutionalizing people and leaving them to fend for themselves is cruel. These people are tormented by their illnesses, self-medicate with alcohol and drugs, engage in negative behavior, and are lucky if they get arrested to get some kind of treatment.
 
But all of this is moot. Politicians want to “do something” and will legislate because that’s all they can do. Trump isn’t going to save us. It’ll get worse until the real shooting starts, but until then, let’s speak the truth and fight the good fight.
 
I’d like to link to this post from Clayton Cramer, the best firearm legal/cultural historian of our time, where he shows some of his current research into mass murder. It’s about mental illness, not the gun.
 
All that being said; keep your eye on the NRA, your elected representatives, and stop donating to the NRA until they clean house and toss out Wayne LaPierre and his ilk.

Clayton Cramer