By Joel A Moskowitz MD
LA JOLLA, California –With Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif), who is a member of the Jewish community, leading the congressional charge against assault weapons, is there a preponderance of support within the Jewish community for such controls?
Feinstein introduced the Federal Assault Weapons Ban which became law in 1994, but expired in 2004. About one month after the murders of 20 children and 6 of their teachers in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, Feinstein introduced a bill that does not expire, which received vehement opposition from the National Rifle Association.
A recent article in the Jerusalem Post deals with the age old dilemma of Jews and weapons. “Ask the Rabbi: May a Jew own a gun store?” by Shlomo Brody (03/08/2013) “Given the debate over the use of this dispensation, it remains difficult to allow Jews to sell weapons unless one can be very confident that local gun control regulations will ensure that the buyer will use them responsibly. This highlights the importance for Jews, both in Israel and around the world, to lead the call for gun control regulations that will allow for self-defense but do the utmost to ensure that weapons do not fall into the wrong hands.”
However, as a member of the Jewish community who also has treated violence-prone patients, I have reservations about the proposed legislation, both generally and from the standpoint of a psychiatric practitioner.
To the first issue, would an outcry against a Lexus which was the instrument of death to some 15 innocent people when the car jumped the curb and plowed into a group waiting for a bus make sense. Would the appropriate action be to ban Lexus vehicles?
Compare to the recommendations to ban multi-shot guns.
Sensible opinions will hold the driver/ the shooter as being responsible.
The DMV checks the ‘background’ (DUI history, ability to drive safely etc). To a lesser extent sales of weapons is linked to a ‘background check’. Anti-gun advocates should be aware of the problems that will be encountered to assess who shall be given the right to own guns.
As a forensic psychiatrist, I have had a personal encounter with the vagaries of complying with the law (The Tarasoff Decision) when a patient revealed his murderous intentions. Priests and psychiatrists are pledged to silence about the revelations of those who trust them with personal secrets. So, how could ‘background checks’ be relied upon? If a psychiatrist is made aware that his/her patient cannot safely drive a car or possess a gun or harbors violent ambitions, he must remain mute. Predictions for human actions are mostly unreliable.
I was referred a school teacher who was depressed because he had been placed on ‘leave’. He had brought in various pistols to have his 7th grade class become familiar with them. This, his school administrators felt, was wrong. In the course of my taking a history, he spontaneously spoke of his intention to kill his immediate supervisor and the school principal! I expressed my alarm and asked if he was just ‘shooting off his mouth’ but had no true intention of killing anyone. He said affirmatively that he had plans to kill them but hadn’t decided on when. I informed him that per the Tarasoff Decision, I must warm those he intended to harm. He said, “I don’t care.” As was my practice, I asked him to go to the outer office and take a psychological test. The MMPI.
As a designated Psychiatric Expert to the Superior Court in Los Angeles, I had interviewed many felons, many violent persons, convicted or not yet convicted. I had examined incarcerated murderers. My opinion was valued by the Judges. I did not feel threatened by meeting these violent types.
But the teacher who was in my outer office raised the hairs on the back of my neck. Concluding the MMPI, he came into my office. And I repeated checking with him as to his plans to kill. I told him that I must inform his targeted victims and would he supply the telephone number of his school. I would call in his presence. He told me the phone number without a wink. I called and asked to be connected with the principal. The principal was meeting with ‘my patient’s’ supervisor and the chief of security to the school. He placed me on speaker phone. The principal told me that he was well aware of the threats. They had already called the police. (My next call was therefore unnecessary). I also called his attorney who had referred him to me. The attorney had not known of his client’s murderous intentions. His attorney, apparently not familiar with my obligations under Tarasoff, asked me to omit this from my report. I declined.
A few weeks later, I was served with the intention to sue me for Malpractice! In my lengthy career as a pediatrician and as a psychiatrist, I had never been sued for malpractice before. The charge was that I had violated my patient’s confidentiality. True but I obeyed the law and I had obtained the patient’s consent.
My attorney (Malpractice Insurance) killed the action when they deposed their expert who agreed with my actions.
Even though I believe that psychiatric background checks would detect persons who should not drive or have access to weapons, it would be tricky. The law should be explicit and the parameters defined. In various studies, violence risk was correlated with psychopathic personality disorders and substance abusers. Not as the public would think, schizophrenia.
The press has focused on Asperger’s Syndrome, a variant of Autism, as a diagnosis linked with a killer. Asperger’s Syndrome has not usually been linked with being violence prone.
If the opinion is that the person who is being evaluated should not drive or possess guns etc, there should be a second opinion if requested. And how long will the prohibition last? I venture that the cost/time will be onerous. But it may be worth it…if you or your family escaped being killed or injured.
A final caveat, laws aimed at gun control, have been used by governments to control groups of population i.e. the Jews which were labeled not ‘citizens’ by the Nazis and hence prohibited from possessing guns. What is the mental health status and agenda of those who would blanket restrict guns?
*
Dr. Moskowitz, a freelance writer based in La Jolla may be contacted at joel.moskowitz@sdjewishworld.com