Pigs are flying past my window!

 

I just looked out the window, and I saw pigs flying by! Why? Because I think Barack Obama is being unfairly criticized by Pete Earley.

 

Pete takes the President to task for this quote: "We have to . . . make sure that we're keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, those who are mentally ill."

 

I happen to agree with old Barack on this one. It's stupid to allow the mentally ill and criminals to legally possess firearms. But Pete says we shouldn't include the mentally ill in that group -- that we wouldn't say we should keep firearms out of the hands of blacks or hispanics or Republicans.

 

Well, no, because unless a black or a hispanic or a Republican is a criminal or mentally ill, he has a constitutional right to own a firearm. Pete makes his argument from a personal experience. His son has a severe mood disorder. Pete says his son has been stigmatized -- that he cannot find a job or friends, and that people whisper behind his back (do you think he's paranoid, as well?).

 

If his disorder is so visible that he doesn't have a job or friends and that people talk about it, would you want him to have a gun or two? What if his mood gets really dark, and he decides he'll no longer put up with the man who turned down his employment application, or the girl who won't go out with him, or the people he thinks are talking about him? Do you think they'll be safe?

 

And I wonder -- would Pete Earley, himself, feel comfortable if his son had ready access to a gun?

 

"Vilifying mentally ill is offensive." The Dallas Morning News; October 26, 2012; p. 27A.