If Garbage is Attracting Flies, What is the First Step?

 Spraying for flies, it appears, not putting a lid on the can.  2/2/24 Fox News:

The associate medical director of New Hampshire Hospital urged lawmakers to pass gun control legislation Friday, describing the anguish that followed the fatal shooting of a security officer in the facility’s lobby last year.

"A coworker was murdered 100 feet from my office," Dr. Samanta Swetter told the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. "Then I had to sit there while other people I loved were in danger, and I could do very little to help them."

The committee was holding public hearings on half a dozen bills seeking to either restrict or expand access to firearms, including one drafted in response to the death of Bradley Haas, who was killed in November by a former patient at the psychiatric hospital in Concord.

While federal law prohibits those who have been involuntarily committed to psychiatric institutions from purchasing guns, New Hampshire currently does not submit mental health records to the database that gun dealers use for background checks. "Bradley’s Law," which has bipartisan support, would require those records to be submitted. It also creates a process by which someone could have their gun ownership rights restored when they are no longer a danger to themselves or others....

The gunman who killed Haas was shot to death by a state trooper assigned to the hospital. Haas was unarmed, and opponents of the bill argued having such workers carrying guns would save more lives than restricting others’ access. One opponent suggested that the bill could apply to those hospitalized for bulimia or other mental health conditions, while others argued it would do nothing to stop criminals from getting guns.

"If someone is violently mentally ill, why would they be even released from a secure mental health facility?" said Kimberly Morin of the Women’s Defense League. "Rather than pushing more discriminatory gun confiscation bills, why don’t we actually do something to address the serious mental health issues we have?"

And the ultimate statement of "I do not trust myself so I do not trust others:

 Donna Morin, whose 21-year-old son died by suicide in 2022, told the committee the bill would not have saved his life, but it could save her own.

"The pain that I feel every single day, it has brought me to thoughts of suicide," said Morin, of Manchester. "I’m speaking publicly about this, even though it’s terrifying, because I really feel that this bill is that important. The goal of this bill is to allow a person like myself to make a decision when they are in a calm mind and not in emotional distress."

Morin compared it to creating a living will to outline treatment preferences in end-of-life situations when you can’t speak for yourself.

Okay, there should be a way for someone who does not trust herself with a gun to inform every gun store in the state, "Do not sell me a gun." 

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