I’m for strict gun control and believe the evidence for its support is overwhelming. And like most gun control advocates, I have no problem with hunting weapons or pistols for personal protection. It’s hard to argue against these even if you love Bambi as I do. On the other hand, assault weapons and semi-automatic machine guns and the like have no place in the arsenal of private citizens. Such death machines were not even in the imaginations of the framers of the second Amendment. So when the weekly massacre occurs and the media goes wild and knee jerk reactions abound and the right wingers blame religion (lack of) and the left wingers blame guns, the frenzy fizzles then dies and nothing gets done until the subsequent carnage when the cycle is rebooted.

The issue of mental health typically gets short shrift. I was surprised it actually got some play after the latest atrocity. The trifecta usually consists of guns, video games and movies – then we throw up our hands and move on. I prefer to indict the whole culture – a narcissistic, greedy, fame-at-all-costs society that marginalizes the meek, mild and thoughtful. You don’t see such massacres in India or Japan do you? Europe has one here and there as they’ve learned from us. We also have a lot more psychopaths than other nations, especially Eastern ones, so a cultural element is undeniable. Changing a culture overnight is no easy task.

Should we ban Fox news, reality shows and tabloids? That’s a good start, like forty lawyers at the bottom of the sea, but obviously un-Democratic. The real challenge is creating better people who don’t spend money on garbage like the aforementioned or porn or prostitution or street drugs or guns for that matter. Where there’s demand someone will supply – eliminate the demand and the supply dries up. Simple economics, but creating decent humans in this morass of inanity and degradation is a colossal mission. We need to stop the bleeding before we can take on the generational plan of dissembling the Dystopia. Too bad brains can’t be bought at Walmart.

The Virginia Tech, Aurora Theater and Congresswoman killers are all likely schizophrenics although clinical diagnoses await. We still don’t know much about the Connecticut monster. All are twenty something males; isolated, unhappy, loners, unable to get laid. That’s really the crux of it; they’re hopeless and seek revenge externally. College girls out there, if you see a lonesome loser, be a martyr and give him some, take one for the team, be a wing girl, you just may prevent the next bloodbath. I say this only partially in jest; if these guys had any life at all, their delusional disconnect that spirals into the vortex of murder, would be less likely.

I recently heard the British psychologist Kevin Dutton discuss the Norwegian killer. He thinks his ilk have a personal grievance which they conveniently attach to an ideology, from which the leap to murder is more easily traversed. This Brevers guy was wealthy and somewhat intelligent but again socially inept – he probably couldn’t get laid either – he may have lost a girl to a Muslim – so his creed was a ruse to hide the shame of insult and inadequacy. They’re failures in their own twisted minds and isolation and paranoia fuel the smoldering inferno. If you’re offended by my “getting laid” line, take it metaphorically, substitute anything; wealth, fame, good-looks, athletic ability, talent, scholarship – whatever it is they seek. And their impending failure is self-induced, yet they are too young and stupid to realize it. Mass murder gives them infamy – they won’t go to their graves unknown – this is at least part of the motivation. The horrifying genocide in Connecticut happened a couple of weeks after I started this article as did another Midwestern Mall spree. It’s getting hard to keep track. The time for solutions is nigh.

My intent is not to impugn mental health professionals, lord knows they have the toughest of jobs, and although we’ve come a long way from Freud and even Jung the science of mind is still in its infancy. With that said, neuroscience has made significant leaps of late. The joker killer was seeing a psychiatrist, the Cho character had at one time and the mother of the Connecticut murderer was frantically searching for solutions. These guys were familiar yet authorities were helpless to prevent the unspeakable. So what is to be done?

David Brooks suggests that we keep the killers anonymous and defuse the media frenzy. I completely agree. The desire for infamy cannot be overstated. And what remains moot in gun discussions is the underground market in weapons. We should take the funds from the idiotic war on drugs and divert them to gun eradication. Mobsters are getting rich pouring arms into the ghetto. We should get serious about this unspoken travesty.

Extreme isolation can contribute to mental deterioration. Many of us are introverts and loners but there are degrees – a severe seclusion mixed with increasing paranoia and delusional thinking creates a wicked cocktail. Psychologists should visit the residences of their charges to see how they’re living – and to prevent the accumulation of an arsenal. Now I know there are privacy concerns but many of these mass killers are (and/or have been) under psychiatric evaluation and are therefore subject (should be) to preventive measures. The typical mass killer is a 22 year old male, in fact, I’d bet the typical murderer in the U.S. is a young male, street thugs mostly. If we took the guns from the hands of 18-25 year old males our murder rate would plummet like a mob victim in the Hudson. Maybe we should put all young men on a Lord of the Flies type Island until they grow a brain. But kidding aside, we need to get somebody into the living rooms of the Kazinski’s, Holmes’s, Loughner’s, Lanza’s and Cho’s to see what the hell they’re up to. This won’t be easy but we’ve got to think outside the hexagon. Insane procedures may prevent insane people from committing insane acts.

Now I’m no social conservative nor one to extoll the nuclear family – I’ve never seen a healthy one – but there’s no question that many kids today are receiving little attention or discipline. Absence and disregard and quite frankly, the lack of fear that an adult male will kick their ass, contribute to the madness. Too many middle aged men are chasing money and twenty five year old floozies while the women seek fake hooters and the whore-attire worn by twenty five year old reality stars. Seventy year old hags are prancing around in knee length boots and platinum wigs (youth culture run amok). I like the idea of “it takes a village” and envision a community center where children are raised by diligent and caring souls. The two parent system is fine too – if it works. I also believe training and tests should be passed before parenthood is allowed. No fornication without representation, or something like that. See the Flagpole Sitter lyrics, “I’m not sick but I’m not well”. Only stupid people are breeding, the cretins cloning and feeding… Nuff said.

Allow me to restate my proposals. Numero Uno, lock down the guns. No more assault rifles, thirty round magazine clips or gun show loopholes. Fund a serious task force to smash the underground gun market. Tighten up background checks. Severely penalize violators. This is a start. Secondly, renew a commitment to mental health. Overcome Reagan’s throwing of the deranged to the streets. Show resolve through creative funding, R&D and new strategies. Physically visit the residences of young males under psychiatric care. Increase the number and quality of counselors at schools. Pay them better. Trois, hold the media responsible. Quit supporting garbage; boycott reality shows, propaganda channels, commercials, violent video games, sensationalism and Kim Kardashian. Pressure the media to keep mass murderers anonymous – the pocketbook rules everything – quit buying crap and they’ll stop feeding you.

This goes for drugs, porno and guns too. Some habits will be easier to break than others but if laws become necessary at the behest of freedoms, we’ll occasionally have to bite the bullet (no pun intended). And lastly, let’s all take responsibility for raising children. Let’s build community centers where children can escape their idiotic parents. Support alternatives to the toxic nuclear family and when a juvenile commits mass murder, hold his parents at least partially responsible. This is harsh but maybe it will spur greater investment from elders. Require parental training sessions and licensing. We regulate everything else but let imbeciles reproduce unimpeded. Difficult problems require harsh solutions. We can’t continue to sit on our rotund derrieres.

Despite my frivolities, word games, slang and occasional irreverence, I’m serious about these suggestions. We can look at the past for things that have worked. Even though I think its rules extreme, MADD has reduced fatal drunken accidents by 40%. Other strategies have reduced crime and vagrancy in some cities. The mob was weakened via tax evasion prosecution. Good rules and regs can work. Progress will be slow and painful but we have few alternatives. We need to come out swinging. Whatever we do, urgency is required, and complacency is unacceptable.