The two weeks leading up to Christmas were insanity in our house. Not just with the normal kinds of things that two weeks before Christmas are usually filled with-the shopping, the baking, the candy making. No, instead that Tuesday afternoon our community learned that two people had been gunned down in a popular shopping mall. Just when I thought the world could not get any crazier, I was at the gym on that Friday morning and heard the news reports about the Newton massacre. Every parent in my sons class must have heard those reports and felt the same sheer panic and desire to hug their children that I did because we all showed up about 15 minutes early to stand in the cold waiting for them with grim faces reflecting the shock our whole nation felt.

The week leading up to Christmas was a time of reflection, and much discussion, in our home about guns and society and the relationship between the two. Many voices cried out for an end to the violence, or a ban on certain types of weapons-but few voices dared talk about what was really wrong in both cases-our mental health system. After going through a situation about ten years ago with a family member who really needed to be committed, I understand the frustration and anger that I heard from many real people (not radio personalities, or bloggers, or television stars) who had their own tales of woe. In our case it was my aunt, who had a long history of many types of mental illness but chiefly with substance abuse and depression. After my grandfather passed away, who she had been living with, we were deeply concerned for her safety. You see, she was not a very good judge of character and she always managed to attract people who preyed on her when she was in an altered state-which was most of the time.

What we found out when we did some research was that in Georgia, the state where she lived, we could not petition the court to commit her unless she showed signs of being a danger to herself or others. It soon became very clear that my family and the court differed on what constituted a danger to herself. This was a woman who brought strangers into her home on a regular basis, showed them firearms, let them stay with her-even if they had a criminal history. The court argued that this was her right as an adult. She routinely drugged herself into a quasi-coma like state using multiple schedule 3 prescription drugs which she doctor shopped to procure. The court argued that since they were prescribed by a doctor that was legal. She had wasted away to a wraith like 120 pounds on a diet of Coca-Cola and junk food. Again the court found nothing wrong with this. Her house was contained dirty dishes piled in the sink, and her furniture was chewed by her labrador retriever since he was never walked. Again, these were no proof to the court that this was someone who was not capable of running her own affairs and that she needed to be somewhere she could get help for her substance abuse and her depression.

In the case of the shooter here in Oregon, he had engaged in all kinds of erratic behavior prior to stealing an AR-15 rifle and killing two innocent Christmas shoppers at his local mall. He had reportedly sold all his possessions (a well documented red flag for suicide) and had told friends he was doing everything from buying a sandwich shop to moving to Hawaii in the weeks leading up to the shooting.

The Newtown shooter may have been angered by his mothers plans to commit him to a mental health facility. If this is the case, her choice to allow her son to become aware of this plan was a fatal mistake. Say what you will about Adam Lanza’s departed mother-at least she was doing something to get her son help!

If we persist with the current level of “mental health care” in this country-where courts argue for the “rights” of the mentally ill to kill themselves with their inability to function as fully capable adults, we will continue to see incidents like the shooter at the mall in Oregon, and the massacre of innocent children at Newtown.

In case you were wondering how my aunt fared: she died of what can only be described as a total failure of her internal organs. Her body simply just quit one day. Missing from her home were multiple silver coins which had belonged to my Grandfather and a 45 pistol-neither have ever been found. Reportedly a woman called the police to report her death and introduced herself to the responding police as my aunts “housekeeper”, her description of their relationship was quested by the detectives who later investigated her death since the house was in dire need of keeping-and had been for some time. By the time my parents were able to go out and clear out the house, there was mold growing on the inside of the storm windows because they had not been cleaned in God knows how long and the stale odor left in the house took weeks to clear. Yes, dear Georgia courts, everyone should have a RIGHT to live in such resplendence. Don’t you think so dear reader?