I buy the war related PTSD and depression, however, America was far more at war during the last decade, from 2002 on, than it is in the last 5 years. Perhaps the problems take time to fester and explode, I don't know - but I can't believe it's that simple. Perhaps, it's a matter of the "disease" being recognized and treated more within the military itself and not after discharge - maybe previously soldiers exhibiting such symptoms were simply discharged and if they exploded it was in civilian life and not on a military base where they are now being treated. As well, it could just be a matter of more soldiers coming home and the readjustment affects some adversely. My point was simply that there needs to be more serious thought given, within the military, to what is happening and how to combat it.
As for the recent purchase of the gun used by this soldier, I'm not a "lefty" nor am I anti-gun, but it seems to me that gun advocates have been saying all along that more needs to be done to stop the mentally ill from purchasing and having access to guns as opposed to full scale registration, capacity limits, etc. As such, this soldier by all accounts was suffering from and being treated for a mental illness yet a background check failed to flag that fact. If the military can't find a way to flag their own personnel with mental illness concerns within the government background checking system how is it ever going to be possible to identify any other individuals who have mental illness?
