I've done two interviews with print media in recent days regarding guns, mental illness, and shooting students, and I've got to say, the discourse is getting weird. For example, I've been asked my thoughts about college professors being required to carry guns in class (my off-the-cuff response was that I'd probably end up shooting my own foot...and who knows what or whom else).
Much of the conversation makes a thinking person...well...think. When people seriously talk in terms of "good guys" (who should have the guns) and "bad guys" (who we must defend ourselves against) I wonder at first if they are kidding. As a psychologist I have had many conversations with "good people" who have made seriously bad decisions, some of which have had catastrophic consequences for both the offender and the victim. Under stress, individuals who may be chronic outsiders to the social world or who may have difficulties differentiating subjective and objective realities (i.e., what's "in their heads" from "what's outside their heads") and who have ready access to guns may quickly shift from being a "good guy" to a "bad guy." And so, the notion that we can simply "arm the good guys" to scare off the bad ones is misguided. This is where such dichotomous thinking truly leads to irrational conclusions.
One reporter today asked my response to "But guns don't kill..." to which I responded: "The problem is that guns make bullets go really fast."
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