Killing 10, including himself, 26-year-old Christopher Sean Harper-Mercer etched himself into the sordid annals of youthful mass killers, too often sharing queer personality traits of social isolation and mental problems. Harper-Mercer distinguished himself asking victims before shooting whether they were Christian, something that has authorities scratching heads for a motive. Wearing a flak-jacket and armed to the teeth with six guns and plenty of ammo in magazines left at the crime scene, there’s no doubt about Harper-Mercer’s methodical planning before his rampage at Roseburg’s Umpqua Community College. Were it not for the heroics of 30-year-old Army veteran Chris Mintz pulling fire alarms alerting authorities before taking seven bullets, many more would have died. Investigators found seven more guns at Harper-Mercer’s Winchester apartment shared with his mother.
All guns found at the crime scene and at Mercer-Harper’s apartment were purchased legally over a three-year period, suggesting that his mother Laurel Harper, a registered nurse, knew about them. Sparking more chatter about gun control, Oregon’s 55-year-old Gov. Kate Brown ignored the issue, preferring to share condolences with victims and their families. Speaking from the Oval Office, President Barack Obama expressed his disgust over the all-to-familiar scenario of wayward youth going ballistic with readily available handguns. Obama urged Congress to stand up to the National Rifle Association and figure out what can be done to deal with gun-violence. Most Second Amendment advocates don’t disagree that guns should be kept out of the hands of the mentally ill. Second Amendment advocates see the problem of gun violence as caused by irresponsible gun-owners.
Obama’s impassioned pleas fall on deaf ears, especially during an election year where the GOP have dominated the headlines. When Newtown, Connecticut killer 20-year-old Adam Lanza massacred 27 mostly at Sandy Hook Elementary School Dec. 14, 2012, the first one killed was his mother that bought him his semi-automatic for Christmas. Second Amendment advocates, including NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, did nothing other than make excuses, that there’s plenty of federal gun control laws on the books. But had their been legislation in place that hold parents or bystanders responsible for gun massacres of their dependent children or other adults, maybe Mercer-Harper’s mother would have done more that weep after the event. Knowing her sick son was stockpiling weapons should have required her to report the fact to local authorities.
Mental health professionals are under increased legal obligation around the country to report to authorities individuals suspected to committing violence. Surely knowing a relative or neighbor is stockpiling weapons should be cause for concern, regardless of how one feels about the Second Amendment. Whether it’s reasonable to expect police or ordinary folks to identify mental illness or violent propensities is anyone’s guess. New federal gun law must require bystanders to report individuals, whether stable or not, stockpiling dangerous weapons. Like Adam Lanza’s mother, Nancy, that took her son’s bullet between the eyes Dec. 14, 2012, Harper-Mercer’s mother Laurel most likely knew about her son’s arsenal. Gun laws must require any citizen to report to authorities any attempt to stockpile dangerous weapons or explosives to prevent future ballistic episodes.
Obama’s frustration stems from the lack of interest in the GOP-dominated Congress to deal with current federal gun laws that don’t require mental health background checks before purchasing handguns or other weapons. Whether any mental health assessment could be made or not, holding bystanders, that have prior knowledge of perpetrators’ arsenals, complicit for violent episodes would go along way in improved reporting. When 20-year-old South Korean-born undergraduate Seung-Hui Cho massacred 33 at Viginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., including himself, April 16, 2007, it was discovered he received mental health treatment at the schools health service. None of Cho’s doctors reported him as a potential danger to himself or others. Letting the mentally ill to purchase guns without some kind of background check or secondary screening is irresponsible.
Whatever silver lining one finds with the Roseburg massacre, had Harper-Murcer’s mother reported him to authorities the incident might have been intercepted before the carnage. Obama’s frustrations won’t change a system too polarized around ideology to galvanize bipartisan Congressional legislation to tighten up federal gun laws. Providing more stringent mental health checks or holding bystanders or family accountable for not reporting individuals stockpiling weapons would be a step in the right direction. Hearing about Harper-Mercer’s mother, Laurel Harper, “crying her eyes out,” does nothing for the victims or their families. Had laws been in place to require her to report her son to local authorities, something could have been done. Whether that would have prevented Harper-Mercer’s ballistic episode is anyone’s guess. At least something, rather than nothing, could have been done.
