Harrison
US Veteran
Several inaccuracies in that article, by CNN. The media jumped on the PTSD, right away. It has been established he did not have PTSD and was not being evaluated for PTSD. Sp. Lopez served 4 months in Iraq in 2011 as a truck driver. He was not involved in any combat whatsoever, and was not injured or wounded. He had approximately 14 years service in both the Puerto Rico NG and a Active Army, yet was only an E-4. That right there is a tip off that there was something wrong with this guy. The Army used to have an Up or Out policy, I wonder whatever happened to it.
According to both official reports and new reports, he seemed to be doing OK until last November when his mother suddenly died and he was not given as much leave as he wanted for her funeral. Well guess what, you don't always get leave when you want it, even for a funeral. There are many reasons he was not given the leave, maybe he did not have it accrued, maybe his unit's mission did not allow him taking leave at that particular time. I know of countless times when soldiers were not immediately granted leave to attend a parents funeral. Supposedly he was trying to go on leave again, for family reasons, and had been turned down once, and was applying a second time and had been turned down when he went on the shooting spree. You would think after 14 years in the Army he would have learned about leave.
The big question that the Army isn't answering is besides Ambien, for sleep, what other medications was he on for his mental health problems. Ambien alone is known to sometimes cause people to do strange things. There are some psychotropic drugs commonly used to treat depression and anxiety that are associated with sudden rage, and several of the people involved in other mass shootings were taking these drugs. Is that the case here. If Sp. Lopez was taking those drugs than probably he should temporarily not be allowed to have firearms while on the medication.
The problem with taking firearms away from people with mental problems is that sometimes those problems are temporary, yet with the federal government, it's all or nothing. Once your problem is cured or resolves itself you are still banned from every owning a firearm. Mental disease is like physical disease. Some is temporary and you get over it, and some you don't.
According to both official reports and new reports, he seemed to be doing OK until last November when his mother suddenly died and he was not given as much leave as he wanted for her funeral. Well guess what, you don't always get leave when you want it, even for a funeral. There are many reasons he was not given the leave, maybe he did not have it accrued, maybe his unit's mission did not allow him taking leave at that particular time. I know of countless times when soldiers were not immediately granted leave to attend a parents funeral. Supposedly he was trying to go on leave again, for family reasons, and had been turned down once, and was applying a second time and had been turned down when he went on the shooting spree. You would think after 14 years in the Army he would have learned about leave.
The big question that the Army isn't answering is besides Ambien, for sleep, what other medications was he on for his mental health problems. Ambien alone is known to sometimes cause people to do strange things. There are some psychotropic drugs commonly used to treat depression and anxiety that are associated with sudden rage, and several of the people involved in other mass shootings were taking these drugs. Is that the case here. If Sp. Lopez was taking those drugs than probably he should temporarily not be allowed to have firearms while on the medication.
The problem with taking firearms away from people with mental problems is that sometimes those problems are temporary, yet with the federal government, it's all or nothing. Once your problem is cured or resolves itself you are still banned from every owning a firearm. Mental disease is like physical disease. Some is temporary and you get over it, and some you don't.
