First is the additional reason to think that the now-dead murderer was autistic:
Laurel Margaret Harper... acknowledged having expertise in dealing with autism, saying that both she and her son — whom she never identified by name — had Asperger’s syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder... She... said she had “dealt with it on a daily basis for years and years”... “He’s no babbling idiot nor is his life worthless,” Ms. Harper wrote. “He’s very intelligent and is working on a career in filmmaking. My 18 years worth of experience with and knowledge about Asperger’s syndrome is paying off.”2 days ago, here, I raised my suspicion that the young man was autistic.
Second is the fact that this woman, who advocated reading to an autistic child, for some reason choose as the appropriate reading material, Donald Trump's "Art of the Deal":
“Fact: Before my son was even born, I was reading out loud to him from Donald Trump’s ‘The Art of the Deal,’” she wrote. “And as for the ‘gesture effect,’ I was practically a mime. And now my son invests in the stock market along with me, turns a profit and is working on a degree in finance. His language and reading skills are phenomenal. I tell you this because it’s not too late for you to start helping your daughter.”
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When I first read that the firearms were "legally obtained" I was 99% sure that meant they belonged to the mother.
Who was Black. And single.
"The Art of the Deal' was on top the NYT bestseller list for nearly a year in 1987-88. It wasn't The Bible, but it was close...
This comes across like a self-diagnosed Asbergers person.
Which means both are assholes.
Interesting also is that CNN manipulated his photo to make him appear white
She should have read: The Fine Art of Risk Management. And why did her son have an anti-Christian bent?
If Obama had a (full) brother, he might have looked like Christopher Harper-Mercer.
I think she screwed up. This was not a kid she should have been buying guns for. I hope she truly does have autism because a person with normal feelings would feel such remorse and regret that their life would be unendurable.
I don't really care whether he had aspergers or asthma, unless knowing this would have some reasonable chance of preventing the next mass killing, which it wouldn't. STOP TALKING ABOUT HIM! Seriously @Althouse. All you're doing is furthering the idea, in some other sick mind, that the way to get the attention he desperately wants is to kill as many people as possible. We should all shut up about this guy.
Totally agree with Godfather.
This kid even posted online about how after a killing their name and story become famous.
Althouse, willing tool of mass shooters, giving them the fame they died to get.
His race, had it fit the narrative would have been prominently featured.
But would it have made the Professor's list of interesting items? Is the focus on the mother in the article with no mention of race, nor a photo, of any interest at all?
Holy Mother of Sperm Whales, the prism of race is missing! Call out the bloodhounds!
Oh wait. Since his race conflicts with the narrative, it is hidden (LA Times notes authorities say he may have been a white supremacist), lied about (CNN and that pathetic white washed photo) or missing all together (the linked article).
Rather like party affiliation when the wrong doer should have a (D) after their name.
And I too am shocked, shocked that more and more people distrust the media.
According to the NYT article, the man should never have been allowed to possess or buy a firearm, since the mother says she had him involuntarily committed to a mental institution on more than one occasion. Why is this not a surprise? Existing firearms control laws apply and were quite obviously violated.
https://www.atf.gov/file/61446/download
Also from the article, the man never seemed to have held down a job, although that is not exactly specified. He was an "aspiring filmmaker" who hadn't left the apartment for 2 years, or was a succesful investor (?).
I also question the mother's self-diagnosis of Asperger's, and subsequent identical diagnosis for the son, since this seems to suggest a certain victimhood, or perhaps a tendency to excuse the son's actions or to pass along a lack of responsibility to him. This is especially true since Asperger's is no longer considered a valid condition, but part of HLA with some significant differences.
I think they should take away the mother's weapons since she says she and her son have the same mental condition.
More guns, less crime.
Another legal gun owner switches from "good guy with a gun" to "bad guy with a gun"
Oh, and since at least one of you cannot read, the article notes of his 13 guns, he and "an unnamed person" we're the purchasers.
In America, unique amongst every other nation on earth, one lives by the sword and kills a bunch of other people with it before dying by it.
A post that dovetails nicely with the NRA narrative. The research on murder-suicide is quite limited (thanks in part to the NRA that continues to successfully squelch federally funded research on gun deaths). Nonetheless, for many years most models of murder-suicide posit that significant/severe mental illness (e.g. depression, autism, psychoses) is a necessary, but not sufficient, component of the murder-suicide phenomenon. Almost all of the perpetrators suffer from highly distorted thinking that appears to be influenced by the presence of severe mental disorder. Are we (i.e. the media, political leaders, special interests) doing a disservice to the mentally ill when we primarily focus on it during horrifically violent incidents? I think so. Do we end up allocating additional resources to the identification and treatment of mental illness as a result. Not really. A discouraging and sickening state of affairs. So, we are stuck with years of inadequate research on gun-related injuries and deaths, the continued stigmatization of the mentally ill, a disabled mental-health system, and powerful political-economic forces that assist in maintaining the status quo or worse, enabling the expansion and crystallization of this damaging state of affairs.
The only answer is to stigmatize the mentally ill, or it will have that effect, and you won't have that. So really, there is no problem, because no solution, no problem.
@ Beaumont -
"Almost all of the perpetrators suffer from highly distorted thinking that appears to be influenced by the presence of severe mental disorder."
Is this a surprise? Does it also surprise that such people are prohibited by existing statute from purchasing or possessing firearms, yet seem to do so anyway?
"...doing a disservice to the mentally ill when we primarily focus on it (mental illness)..."
The inanimate objects do nothing by themselves. Anecdotal evidence from, say, China, would suggest that bladed weapons have become the tool of choice for mass murder there. In Israel, automobiles seem to have become the terror weapon of choice lately due to the inability of suicide terrorists to obtain firearms. So, given the rather substantial number and availability of firearms in the U. S., where would you have research look other than in the detection and short term prevention of weapons and the mentally ill connecting? Do you seriously think there is any chance greater than zero of firearms being anything other than as available as they are right now? Prohibition and restrictive regimes are going nowhere in the U S. So, accept that and deal with it. Frankly, such talk about "stigmatization of the mentally ill" is somewhat misguided, considering your concession that all or nearly so of the mass shooters are suffering some form of mental illness, and are probably known to be so prior to the shooting by someone. So, identifying someone as mentally ill - a reality - hardly seems a "stigmatization" when we are talking about people with an illness which also represents a threat to others when the ill person refuses to accept treatment.
Or is what you are suggesting to remove all firearms from the general population, rather than suggest people with dangerous conditions if left untreated be forced to either accept treatment or suffer some form of inpatient control?
@ Timb -
"...at least one of you cannot read, the article notes ... he and "an unnamed person" we're (sic) the purchasers."
No, actually, you're the one with the reading issue I think. The article says "or", and does not specify who actually bought the firearms. In fact, nowhere online is that information available as far as I can find. There were 14 firearms recovered, all identified as "legally purchased" but not who actually bought them. And according to the article, from that the mother says, the son should have been ineligible from legally buying firearms, so if he did buy any, he committed a Federal felony for each purchase.
In other words, once more, appropriate laws were on the books to have prevented this shooting, but were ignored.
But let's pass more laws. What the heck. Just what we need.
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