People get diagnosed with mental and emotional conditions that they don't have, all the time. Also, there is no reason to have laws that legalize stigma.
Laws which prevent people who have diagnoses of mental or emotional illness from doing things that people who don't have those diagnoses are able to do are discriminatory. Also, consider that a law that prevents someone who has such a diagnosis from owning a gun would mean that someone who is in mental and emotional distress and in medical treatment because she is stalked and verbally threatened by an ex-boyfriend could not legally own a gun, while the ex-boyfriend could.
Also, there are a lot of people who have diagnoses or psychiatric histories whose mental health and stability are better than people who have never even talked to a therapist. People who pay attention to their health, whether it's mental or physical health, are usually healthier than people who don't.
You couldn't have a law that says that black people can't have guns, or Latino people can't have guns, or Christians can't have guns. Mental health diagnosis should not be used to categorize people.
It ought to be illegal for all civilians to have assault weapons.
Personally, I don't think that I'll ever own a gun, automatic or not, and I think that the world would be a better place if nobody did.
Copyright L. Kochman, June 24, 2016 @ 2:55 p.m.