To strike at the root cause of the recent spade of mass shootings, federal and state governments must create stronger and more effective mechanisms for the early detection of mental health issues and their treatment.
It is also time to recognise that certain severe antisocial tendencies pose a grave danger to society, and that the treatment of such conditions must be made compulsory.
In addition to providing timely and humane treatment to those in need, the establishment of institutionalised mental health care nationwide will also greatly assist the enforcement of existing gun laws, by providing a vastly more comprehensive and up-to-date database of mentally unstable individuals for background checks during firearms purchases.