And mental health is part of the puzzle, but let's be fair, most who are mentally ill and use a gun to hurt anybody, it is themselves. Suicide is the number one casualty of fire arms.

We can argue how much mental health plays into this, but unless we address this in the totality, forget about it.

If this gets more funding to mental health programs, that are sorely needed, I see that as a win-win.

For the record, I don't blame mentally ill people for this epidemic...it is my much deeper than a single cause.

Changing laws as to what people can have, even if that hurts the sensibilities of the precious flowers among us, must be a federal priority as well.

Hugs.

and they did nothing to help avoid this situation.I looked it up and they really do have some hefty laws there.
The mental health infrastructure in this country is awful. It was awful back in the seventies when I was doing rotations in psych before and after warehousing, and it is awful now. I don't have an answer. This is an awful awful tragedy and I am so sad. A damaged soul did unthinkable harm to so many families.

And this is an NRA talking point...in reality there is a direct correlation between more strict laws and less violence.

Sorry if now I will call talking points for what they are.

People want to have those riffles...JOIN THE GUARD, that was the original intent of the founders.

permit required for handguns, gun safety course. NCIS background check. 14-day waiting period. Which seems strict in comparison to "no permit required, no background check, no training needed", but really isn't; it's still very easy for the average person to obtain a permit. (Especially when the mental health test basically means "no prior involuntary commitment or adjudication&quot .

Blaming is saying "Mentally ill people are at fault for this."

I've only seen people saying that the killer likely suffered from some form of mental illness. That isn't blame. It's a statement. It may be factual or may not be.

I've also seen (and agreed with) the argument that people who suffer certain mental illnesses shouldn't own guns for the duration of their mental illness. That is also not blame. It is simply a good idea.

I am mentally ill. I suffer from clinical depression and have for a long time. I am also not a neurotypical. I have Asperger's syndrome, as a cursory read of some of my posts might indicate.

For the former (although not the latter) I don't believe I should be allowed to own a gun. If I'd had a gun last year during the depths of my depression, I may have killed myself. I certainly thought of it often enough. What stopped me from offing myself was the thought of the effect on my children. I can suffer, but they shouldn't have to. So I'm still alive today. But a gun could have sped me on my way before I'd had a chance to think it though.

I don't believe that I, or people like me, should own guns for the duration of their illnesses. That isnt' blame.

Every one of these mass killings is attributed to mental illness. it's an excuse, an effort for people to divorce themselves from it, to say "Oh well, that person, he was aberrant, he was an exception, we have nothing in common with him!" it's an excuse a gun-worshipping, violence-loving culture conjures up to cover its own ass.

The vast majority of murderers are completely "with it." and there's no reason to imagine the number of victims changes this basic fact.

it's the culture that creates these events, it's not some brain chemistry problem.

There has to be something more going on.

And right wing media whipping people into a frenzy.

and a culture that promotes violence as an appropriate response to conflict.
The Pearson Correlation chart, found inThe Geography of Gun Deaths by Richard Florida (The Atlantic, January 2013), finds a negative relationship between mental illness and gun deaths suggesting that it is not the mentally ill who commit these crimes.

what else is numbers. out of 300M people a handful will be homicidal. If they have access to high-capacity firearms, are angry at the world, and want to be on TV, well....

Otherwise everybody immersed in this culture would be violent and acting out on it, but that is not the case.

It takes the "right" (or wrong) combination of factors to trigger such a heinous act in an individual.

Don't slaughter children. They don't walk into a mall or a movie theater and start shooting.

That's not a cultural issue, it's a mental issue.

The vast majority of people with mental illness aren't a threat to anyone, except perhaps to themselves just as the vast majority of legal firearms owners aren't a threat to anyone who isn't trying to harm them.

suffer a mental or psychological or emotional crisis. Much less that no one who ever enters their home will. Shit happens. Life happens. The unexpected happens. That's why these instruments of death and destruction must be 'well-regulated' and generally unavailable except under the strictest conditions at all times.

Turns out that when you let people with visual disabilities drive, a lot more accidents happen. Is it their "fault"? Is anybody blaming them? No, their disability isn't their fault. But you can acknowledge the fact that maybe they need a little extra help getting where they need to go, and maybe shouldn't be driving themselves, without turning away from vehicle crash safety or any of the other relevant issues. You're numbers are right, the vast majority of crimes are committed by non mentally ill, with mentally ill more likely to be victims. But at the same time, the VA tech shooter and others clearly were mentally ill. I'm saying the solution to this problem probably isn't just one single thing.

I agree with everything that you said.

Exactly my situation and my views.

We do need more attention placed on mental illness. My husband has battled mental illness so I am not just some person who has never met someone with a mental illness. There have been dozens of accounts right here on this board of people who know mentally ill people who are a danger to themselves or others especially before they receive treatment. We cannot ignore that fact. That does not mean that every single mentally ill person is dangerous and no one is even saying that. There are millions of people with mental illness and many are not dangerous. Many seek and receive treatment and voluntarily take their medications. The whole reason we even bring up mental illness is because there are a lot of people who are not getting the help they need and that is when mental illness can become dangerous. What is wrong with demanding our government address and offer more help for the mentally ill? I see nothing wrong with that.

To target rather than to help.

There is a difference between mental illness and emotionally crippled. All of the threads I've started on this subject refer to what I believe nearly everyone has- emotional traumas that are crippling them in some way. I honestly believe that nearly all of us are messed up, and we have nowhere to go for help. Not that we can afford. And even those who are supposed to be professionals are unqualified but a very few.

Our priorities are not on helping to improve the human condition as much as simply making life more comfortable and convenient. We spent a half trillion per year to aim guns at those who are not willing to give us what we want. Yet millions of people are suffering from emotional problems that go unaided.

I want to make this a better world. I see it as really quite simple. We'd have to start out by changing politics so that in order to even get to the place where you can affect millions of people's lives, you would have to pass an emotional test of some kind. George Bush, Romney, and those like them would fail without any doubt. And we would have leaders like Clinton, Obama, Carter, every time.

Then, we turn our military spending into productive spending. Hell, I wouldn't mind paying taxes if that were the case.

We aren't solving any of our problems. We're just massaging the symptoms.

Which is generally preceded by trauma of some kind, with a biological vulnerability to developing illness. Being mentally ill does not make one emotionally crippled, particularly since many with diagnoses actively seek treatment.

Depression is the most common mental illness and one of the most pervasive world health problems, according to WHO. 2/3 of those with depression are women. When was the last time you saw a woman shoot up a school or mall?

So unipolar and bipolar depression, PTSD, Borderline Personality Disorder, and various forms of schizophrenia are mental illnesses.

The incidence of violence to others among the mentally ill is very low. A 2003 NIH study showed that the non-chemical substance abusing Mentally ill population had no greater incidence of violence than those without mental illness who likewise didn't abuse substances. They also concluded that violence in the population at large could be reduced by 4.3% if mental illness were eliminated, compared to 34% for substance abusers, and 5% for Those with both mental illness and addiction/alcoholism. I'm guessing that first number is mainly due to suicide.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1525086/

I don't have a subscription to that mag to date. I have in the past. This article just reminds me that I need to get back into the Psychology Today (PT) habit.

I think PT may have nailed it on this issue of mass murder. Dangling in my mind was illicit drug use, combined with the violent games. But never did I link it to the use or misuse of prescription drugs by those who suffer from serious personality disorders, bipolar/depression disorders, etc.

Another thing I've been thinking about is the effect of the time that we live in and possibly our inability to grow or adjust to a new reality, our easement into a 21st century mentality.

In so many ways, it leads back to our inability as a society to look reality square in the face and deal with our problems. There is probably not many families that DO NOT have someone affected by some sort of malady. We can not ignore their problem. We must love and support them, care for them, keep our eyes on them at all times, be sure that they take their meds on time, never over-medicated or under-medicating. And if the med is having an adverse affect, call the Dr immediately.

My husband forgot to refill his prescription for a couple of days and had horrible side effects. He doesn't make that mistake anymore.

... and goes right back to feeling like they did before. We have to realize that these individuals in our family cannot live independently, because if they did, they would be a goner. Yeah, it may be a sad reality that we have to depend on meds to keep us well, but its an absolute necessity in most cases. If the meds work to stabilize your fam member, take care of them like a baby. Even if they are 50 yrs old, or 20 yrs old. And love them, love them, love them.

I was at the mall when that was going on. It was terrifying, but thankfully I had arrived just as it was almost all over yet at the time most people didn't know and I happened to be in a part of the mall a good distance away.

I also knew about her. Her mother was friends with the mother of my friend's boyfriend. I met Sylvia's mother several times and all she talked about was what could be done about Sylvia who she KNEW was homicidally mentally ill, but the laws permitted nothing to be done about it though Lord knows that poor woman tried her hardest because Sylvia was an adult. She was also a paranoid schizophrenic that voluntarily stopped taking her meds. Everyone who came across her when she was off her meds knew she was a danger to others yet not a single thing could be done about it. And one day in October of 1985 her illness made her spin completely out of all control, and she killed several people at the Springfield Mall.

It was this very incident that finally prompted PA to revise their mental health laws so that dangerously ill people like her could be forcibly removed from society and given help whether her illness told her she wanted that help or not. Unfortunately, it's common for schizophrenics and paranoid schizophrenics to believe that they can stop taking their meds and be fine with out them. I've got a schizophrenic living right next door who's stopped taking his meds for that same reason... he's the only one that believes he's normal without them when there is no question at all that he isn't normal without them.

Women HAVE committed mass murder, just not nearly as much as men. And maybe it's at least partly because it is usually men that suffer from paranoid schizophrenia. I actually can't think of a single mass murderer that did NOT suffer from a severe mental illness.

About Sylvia Seegrist: http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/mass/sylvia_seegrist/index.html

Because the crimes are horrifying, but assumptions are not evidence. Medical studies, as my previous post showed, reveal a high correlation between substance abuse and violent crimes but not between mental illness and violence. You are making the mistake of basing your views on media representations rather than empirical evidence. You tell the story of one mentally ill woman and imagine that tells you what you need to know. The study I linked to showed that schizophrenics actually display lower levels of violence than those with other illnesses, which also surprised me to learn. The highest incidence was among those with major depression, and I am guessing (though the article doesn't specify) most of that was self-Inflicted violence. There was no statistical correlation between delusions and violence.

If the goal is to decrease mass murder and violent crimes more generally, decisions must be made on actual studies, on scientific information rather than stereotypes and prejudice.

If a study focused exclusively on violence toward others if schizophrenics would not rank more highly. Half of all gun deaths are self-inflicted, and that may account for the comparatively higher rates among major depressives vs. Schizophrenics. I need to examine more of the literature to know whether that is the case.

And don't believe what you read in the so-called professional journals. Depression most often comes from unexpressed emotions. And almost no therapists are willing to break free from their Freud based methods to access why people are depressed, and anorexic, etc. This stuff is also why we're physically ill.

The mental health industry still hasn't caught up with the discoveries of the late 70's. And we're spending half a trillion on counterproductive things instead of caring for our well being.

I know we are all on the same page here on this forum. We're trying to make this a better world. It's not that difficult, in theory. The major problem is authoritarian behavior, in a nutshell.

Last edited Sun Dec 16, 2012, 04:16 PM - Edit history (1)

For you to read yourself.

Is entirely freudian and shows no knowledge of any research since the 1970s. I guess that's what they call projection.

Metal illness is ignored until people want to use it as an explanation or accusation. Events this horrible defy any simple explanation or remedy.

more help for those who suffer from it.

But as a culture it is not a priority to eliminate the stigma and not use it as a stand alone explanation for whatever is not easy to understand.

Because you feel it is so? You don't know what you're talking about. There are two studies cited in this thread that show that violence is no more prevalent among the mentally ill than the general population, If you drink, you're far more likely to commit a violent crime than I am. If you are male, you are far more likely to inflict violence then I am. You are relying on your ignorance to scapegoat, when you obviously do not know what you're talking about.

Any more than I speak for every man or every American, or whatever. Mental health services would have helped the shooter. That is not to say that all people who seek mental health services could be a shooter. There is vast difference between the two statements that you seem to be missing.

There is, however, a strong correlation between substance abuse and violence. Gender is also a strong factor. A non mentally ill man is far More likely to commit a crime than a mentally Ill woman.

Has information about the shooter's mental health been released? I find it amazing so many are willing to attribute his actions to mental illness, based on no information. We know He killed 28 people with guns. We don't know anything about his health history.

Any mental health professional would consider a mass-murderer to be mentally ill.

No one anywhere would suggest that a person who shoots 28 odd people is mentally stable. I'm sorry. Again this does not mean that all or even most or even many mentally ill people are in fact prone to violence, just that SOME are. Some of them are men. And some of them are women. Some of them have a history of alcoholism or drug abuse. Some of them don't. Some people think about shooting people but don't. Some people think about it and do. The fact remains that a strong network of mental health services would help find those who feel like shooting 28 odd people the help they need before the action takes place.

Last edited Sun Dec 16, 2012, 05:01 AM - Edit history (1)

One has been a woman. The rest have been men. We assume mental illness because such events are too horrifying to imagine. Absent additional evidence, we do not know. Were the 9/11 high jackers mentally ill? Are the guys who blow up abortion clinics? Tim McVeigh? Ted Bundy? They inflict terror that we find impossible to conceive, but that does not mean targeting the mentally ill does anything about mass murders. Studies exist that show correlations far more precise than what you assume to be the case. If you're interested in actual solutions, assuming doesn't cut it.

See http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1525086/

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/reading-between-the-headlines/201207/mass-murders-are-the-rise

right?

not EVEN worth it

I don't recall forcing you to enter this discussion. Nor did I read anywhere in the TOS that mind reading was a requirement for membership.

But not in the way you meant it. The mentally ill are the most likely group to be victimized.

So there is a correlation, but mostly a one way street in the OTHER direction. (Toward them)

I meant perpetrators.

does not necessarily mean the person cannot be trusted with a gun. Now mind you, I am only speaking from personal experience: my late husband (passed 18 months ago), suffered from paranoid schizophenia. We were together for 27 years so I went through onset to full blown episodes with him. We lived on a 40 acre farm he was born and raised on, my husband grew up hunting and loved it. We always ate what was killed. When he first starting having outbursts, I purchased a huge floor safe and put all of our firearms in it and only I had/have the combination. Now believe it or not, to me, securing the guns did not make me feel any better. Husband was 6'7" and 235 as opposed to my 5'4" and 120lbs. His size and reach and strength alone were enough to wreak major mayhem if things went that way. As time went on, with therapy and medicine regimen, we managed to get the illness under control. After much discussion with his Dr and therapist, he was allowed to use the shotgun to hunt on the farm. I still kept it in the safe and he only got it when he was leaving to walk to his stand, and as soon as he came back, it went back in the safe. This may sound as if I was treating him like a child but I feel like it gave him something back that he enjoyed, something from before his mind betrayed him (that's how he described it), it reminded him of his youth, etc. He put a lot of meat on our table and I could see the pride in being able to provide.
Not all mentally ill people should be allowed access to guns at any time but, then again, not all sane people should be allowed access to guns at any time either.

My husband has described it that way before too.

made it so heart-breaking. He was fully aware of his mind not 'behaving properly'.

... in the position of having to make, literally, life-and-death decisions about how best to care for the health and happiness of their loved one.

You had a doctor and a therapist on your team, and yet you were the one who would have had to live (I honestly didn't mean that to be, like, a pun) with the results of giving him access to a gun. What a terrible burden to place on an untrained person.

It was really kind and loving of you to allow him to hunt and to provide in this situation--I bet it made a big difference to his well-being. I have to admit that I wouldn't have had that courage, but it obviously meant a lot to your husband. He sounds very self-aware, too.

I think you're right about access to guns--plenty of people who are just pissed but not mentally ill shouldn't be allowed access to guns. There's mental illness and there's just being an asshole. Given that the vast majority of the mentally ill aren't violent, I'd rather restrict the assholes' gun access, if that were possible.

for your understanding.

I've known plenty of drunk idiots who think it's fun to shoot off a gun while drinking.

Believe me, I live in rural Podunkville in the heart of the Bible belt. We have plenty of those 'good ol boys' who like to do just that---get shit-face drunk and go to waving guns around and shooting in the air.

Edit to add: Maybe there needs to be an Idiot Control law.

they did a segment about "the mind of the killer" and two "experts" were interviewed and the only thing i heard about "mental" anything was when the *reporter* said this guy had *mental issues* --that's it.

and i wondered what the hell she was referring to/talking about--first i'd heard of it. and whatever "it" is, i haven't heard anyone come right out and say it. that's all that was said about it during that interview.

i haven't heard anything else.

I never thought quite along those lines.
It's too close. I am beginning to realize
we are all mentally ill.

On Edit

OOPS! I meant to reply to the original post.

but this reply can almost fit both posts.

You honestly haven't seen that?

That's not to say all mentally ill people will shoot a bunch of people - that is a very specific mental illness. Actually, I think the state of this country causes some mental illnesses that lead to violence. Actually, I think it's a natural effect.

but a person who commits mass murder is mentally ill.

Being mentally ill does not mean that person is going to kill people, but murdering innocent people is done by the insane.

Hey Cliff... we are you... you are us. We are all in it together, and sometimes it's rough figuring out what to do when the insane happens.

That's not discrimination, its common sense. Just the same way people with severe visual impairments aren't granted drivers licenses. its not a matter of blame or stigmatization merely recognizing reality.

My husband is legally blind and has had a mental illness. You are correct that not allowing blind people to drive is not discrimination.

Nothing more. If you want to restrict gun ownership by keeping them away from those most likely to inflict harm on others, keep them out of the hands of men up to about age 37 and away from anyone who abuses chemical substances. There is no greater propensity for the mentally I'll to commit violent acts than the rest of the population.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1525086/

In the NIH piece, or World Psychiatry, which is more comprehensive. They don't contradict each other. One is a medical journal and the other a popular magazine.

that being mentally ill in and of itself is not a predictor. But mentally ill people who do not take their medicine and mentally ill people who take drugs and alcohol are at significantly increased risk for violent behavior. As many of us have stated not all mentally ill people will commit mass murders, but those who are untreated and those who use drugs and alcohol are at risk. That is why we are advocating for them. They need help and there is not enough help available. The NIH article you cite doesn't even address mass murders.

not mental illness. Read the World Psychiatry article. Anyone who abuses chemical substances is at a far greater risk of committing violence, not just the mentally ill.

You make a lot of assumptions with no proof. But who needs proof when you an rely on prejudice. What about guns? They naturally have nothing to do with tens of thousands of gun related deaths in the US every year.

You ignored the evidence and you put me on ignore because you are unable and unwilling to examine facts. That is childish. You obviously couldn't be bothered to read the World Psychiatry study. You don't care what the actual facts are. But run away. That makes I easier for you to justify your unfounded prejudice.

Only I cited the precise numbers, which you refused to look at for some reason.

I can't disagree with that. The comment to which you responded was about a particular study of mental illness and violence. The issue IS guns. Amy Goodman talked about a man who took a knife into a Chinese school and injured 23 children. They all survived. If the man had been wielding a bushmaster rifle, the survival rate would have been far lower.

For the actions of those with clear mental health issues is getting old. How about we blame the individual that committed the atrocity and call it a day.

They aren't law abiding once they use those weapons on other people. You don't know if this boy was mentally ill. We do know he killed 20 children and 8 adults with guns. There s no greater propensity for violence by those who are mentally ill. The same cannot be said for gun owners. I do not like being scapegoated by gun lovers so the can continue to promote policies that lead to mass murder.

Well. All I can tell you is that I have not committed a murder; as well as about 99% of gun owners. But you don't delineate the individuals who committed the crime vs gun owners and 'their gun problem' in case you didn't see it.. I said 'blame the individuals that committed the atrocity.'

Last edited Sun Dec 16, 2012, 04:59 AM - Edit history (1)

You cannot because there is no correlation. I seriously doubt your 99% figure. That would make for a much lower homicide rate than we have in this country.

And state this individual suffered from mental illness; and this mental illness was major contributing factor to this atrocity. Again.. Blame the individual; which is what I said. You want to ascribe blame to gun owners or 'gun lovers' as you call them.

We don't know what his condition was. He may have been mentally ill, or he may not have been. But mental illness is not a statistically significant factor in violent crimes. I don't blame gun owners, other than their insistence on promoting policies that result in easy access to guns.

And deny mental illness and not lay blame on the individual that committed the atrocity. Got it. Let me know how that works out for you.

I said I do not blame you. The individual alone is responsible for this act. BUt if we want to prevent these events from happening so often, we need to examine the proliferation of guns.

Since you phrased it that way.. An op phrased the same way would probably garner more and better quality discussion on this issue. Or.. In the current DU atmosphere.. Just increase the animosity. Thank you for clarifying what I probably should have picked up earlier. Have a good night.

Take care.

And there as the article stated you would be correct. However, I think you and the other poster are talking past each other because you are talking about all gun related incidents while they are talking specifically about mass murder gun related incidents. The article DID specify that when it came to incidents of mass murder mental illness was a large contributing factor that is made significantly worse if the mentally ill person abused drugs or alcohol as well.

Yes, most murderers are not mentally ill and are more likely to be abusers of drugs and alcohol, but most mass murders are likely to be mentally ill and more likely to commit a mass murder if they are mentally ill and also abuse drugs or alcohol.

And I think you're right about the other poster and I misunderstanding each other.

I do think it important to wait for more information before concluding this shooter was mentally ill. We assume that to be the case because we can't comprehend the horror of such an act. But people do diabolical things. Like the OP, that kind of behavior bears no resemblance to my own experience with mental illness, nor that of the many people I have met through years of group therapy.

I don't like being scapegoated to promote an anti gun agenda. Funny how that works. Luckily.. We are in the United States where you can vocally oppose gun ownership; and gun owners.. And thanks to the 2nd Amendment I can own guns.

Of promoting discrimination against a group of law abiding citizens, the mentally I'll, to make yourself feel better.

Is discrimination? That's a stretch isn't it?

Once the gun owners commit a crime; they are not law abiding. So blame that individual not all the gun owners who have not committed mass murder. Or a single murder.. Or pretty much any crime.

Blame or responsibility clearly lies with this shooter and him alone. But people want to know what to do to prevent such frequent events from occurring. Doing something about gun proliferation has to be part of that solution. I'm all for better access to mental health treatment, but further adding to the stigma on mental illness by assuming a societal correlation between mental illness and violent crime that does not exist is counterproductive.

But you blamed 'gun lovers' who is painting with the broad brush?

No, but I do blame the NRA and the rest of the gun lobby for resisting all efforts to help curb gun proliferation.

omg

Blame the individual that committed the crime. That's it's. It's a common phrase and the meaning is clear. Place blame where it belongs; on the individual that committed the crime.

NOT

*done here*

It would appear it was "your widdle feelings" that got hurt.
You have a great night.

and let's quickly deal with it.

the minutia, specics are meaningless, and banning guns from this person or that person leaves someone with a gun in the street, which on a given day said gun could be used.

and even if the shooter--whose name I will not repeat--was mentally ill, he was not insane. he knew what he was doing.

illness by the shooter, IMHO. The second part of the equation, which cannot be separated from the first, is gun legislation. Both must be dealt with together.

The same percentage of so-called normal people commit hideous crimes. This one MAY have been committed by someone with mental illness.

crimes, I said this one. Women and children unarmed and no threat to anyone not on the throws of a psychotic break, so it's not a leap to propose that he was mentally unstable FFS.

I do feel that severe mental illness is something that needs to be treated, so people won't be pushed over the edge to commit such crimes. There's almost always some point at which someone can be rescued before it's too late.

But the vast majority of people who are mentally ill pose no threat to anybody. I just feel that mental illness, like any other ailment, needs treatment...yet so many people can't afford it. It breaks my heart when I read forums, and see people who are suicidal and asking what to do about it because they can't afford a doctor.

When I talk about mental illness, I do so from a place of compassion, not placing blame. I blame lack of treatment, not the patient. I'm sorry if I didn't express myself fully enough.

The numbers are the same for people without mental illness.

The truth hurts.

I am sorry that you feel attacked and blamed.

Your point that mentally ill folk are ignored (generally) until a tragedy occurs is spot on.

I am sorry.

and easy access to it. For those that are able to get proper diagnosis and treatment that works, I am very happy. The problem is that many are not so fortunate.

There still are no answers for many mental health issues, many of the treatments are inadequate and access to treatment is limited. We need to fund research and provide easy access to all health care including mental health care.

better than to bandy about...but they are embolden by the fact that so far it is not a ppr'd kind of offense. I find the very notion to be offensive, but like I said the RWingers are going nutz after losing the last election. I hope it means they finally slip up and get banned out of frustration.

The problem is guns.

...it's tragic that instead he appears to have been taken to shooting ranges by his mother.

Who rationally keeps an armory in a home with a mentally ill young adult?

That is NOT needed, as 1) Asperger's is about the least understood (IMO) of all the forms of autism; spectrum, and 2) kids with this are no more prone to violence than anyone else in the population.