Less than a week after the Oct. 27 slaughter in Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue killing 11, wounding six, a gunman in Thousand Oaks, Calif., slaughtered 12 at Borderline Bar and Grill Wednesday evening, Nov. 7. Former Marine Afghan War veteran 28-year-old Ian David Long went ballistic during the nightclub’s “college nights,” another soft target for the deranged triggerman who etched himself into the annals of American mass murder. Unlike the Tree of Life mass killer 46-year-old Robert Bowers who was taken alive, Long died of a self-inflicted gunshot with his 12 other victims, including 29-year Ventura County Sheriff veteran Sgt. Ron Helus who was hit and died from Long’s Glock .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun. When you look at both mass murders, there’s a common denominator to mass killings, namely, both shooters used legally purchased weapons and were mentally ill.
When it came to motive for Bower’s Oct. 27 slaughter, police point to his anti-Semitic rant before opening fire: “All Jews must die.” While it’s true Bowers was anit-Semitic, it’s also true he was psychotic at the time of the rampage, telling the FBI that “noise” in his head told him to “go in” to save his white brothers. Examining both murders, it’s equally true that Long also suffered from the very least Post Traumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD], the diagnosis for mental health following military service. Ventura County Sheriff officials went to the Newberry Park residence of Long to find any evidence, including computer records of what pushed Long over the edge to commit mass murder. ”There was just young people, like young 18, 19, 20, just having a great time, said a step-father at the bar with his step-son. “And this maniac came in and started shooting at people for no reason at all.”
When you look for reasons at horrific crimes like Tree of Life Temple or Borderline Bar & Grill, there’s no justification for mass killings. Yet mass murder happens all too frequently in the U.S., scaring off potential tourists from visiting the United States. With 340 million guns in circulation, about equivalent to U.S. population figures, there’s plenty of “reason” to do something to prevent mass killings before it occurs. Law enforcement battles civil rights against the need to preempt violence before it occurs, whatever the setting. Saying there was “no reason at all” ignores the warning signs of psychosis, sometimes not obvious but definitely there if one looks more carefully. With Second Amendment, guaranteeing gun ownership, giving every law-abiding citizen the right to buy guns, law enforcement has a daunting challenge to prevent gun violence.
After every massacre, especially at elementary schools, there’s a hue-and-cry for more gun control, something resisted by Second Amendment advocates like the National Rifle Association [NRA]. But when you look for common denominators to mass killings its almost always involves deranged individuals legally possessing semiautomatic hand guns and assault rifles. Gun advocates urge arming schoolteachers, despite the risk of leaving schools more heavily armed. Current federal gun laws, affecting the purchases of handguns in the U.S., have no provision for mental health testing, leaving gun ownership legal for even the most dangerous of criminals. Law enforcement looks for motives but in the end, acts of violence and mass murder rarely stem from simple explanations like anti-Semitism Bowers no doubt held anti-Semitic views but it was his psychosis that led to his rampage.
Even racially motivate killers like 24-year-old Dylann Roof who shot-and-killed 9 worshippers June 17, 2015 in bible study at First AME Church in Charleston, S.C., are also psychotic at the time of the rampage. When suspects flee to escape detection it shows more premeditation or an attempt to get away with the crime. Self-inflicted gun shot wounds at the time of the massacre suggests more deteriorated forms of mental illness at the time of rampages. When it comes to Long, Ventura County Sheriff paid him a visit in April for disturbing the peace. “He was somewhat irate, acting a little irrationally,” said Sheriff Geoff Dean, admitting his department sent a mental health detail to evaluate Long back in April. Whatever they found, they didn’t provide necessary follow-up to assess Long for potential violence, something that erupted last night at the Borderline Bar & Grill.
Given the Second Amendment letting lunatics like Long buy semiautomatic handguns and assault rifles, elected officials must work on better ways to predict and control violent behavior before it occurs. If police can arrest pedophiles looking at kiddy-porn, law enforcement needs the tools to arrest potential mass killers before victimizing innocent civilians. Before 65-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire killing 59 open-air concertgoers from his Mandalay Bay hotel room Oct. 1, 2017, injuring 85, law enforcement needs a Domestic Intelligence Surveillance Act [DISA] to track down serial killers before their massacres. There’s no way gun tighter gun control legislation could have stopped Long’s rampage, without tampering with the Second Amendment. Only by giving law enforcement better tools can potential acts of mass murder be prevented.
