We've all seen the tragic rise of mass shooting events. A lot of things have been blamed: guns, violent video games, media coverage, etc.
But what often gets overlooked is identifying and intervening with potential mass shooters BEFORE they can commit an atrocity. Our society used to be much better at this. You didn't have near-daily incidents like this in decades past, even though guns were just as available.
Back then we had communities where friends, neighbors, social clubs, etc. looked out for each other. And police and courts that were empowered to restrain potentially dangerous individuals.
Unfortunately we've lost both of these. We can't bring back the close, trusting communities of yesteryear - the world has changed too much. But we CAN restore our government's ability to restrain dangerous people through profiling and involuntary commitment.
We all know the mass shooter type.
>white man
>a quiet loner
>always brooding or angry
>only interested in technical things but not people
>no success in romance
>weird sense of humor
>etc.
We know who these people are. Police should be REGULARLY doing very ... "enthusiastic"... welfare checks on them. Sometimes announced, sometimes surprise. Forcing their way into the basements or shitty 1 room apartments they rent, checking for guns, extremist content, bomb materials, etc. Courts should liberally interpret police powers to prevent bullshit 4th amendment claims.
Yeah, we still need "probable cause" or whatever, but a judge can find that when a 22 year old man has never had a girlfriend and rarely leaves his house.
When ANYTHING suspicious is found on these creeps, judges should order them into involuntary confinement for treatment. Force them to deal with their anger issues, asocial nature, fear of differences. Make them meet with experts in deradicalization. Force them to be around normal people from diverse backgrounds so they can experience first hand how stupid their beliefs are.
Thoughts?