WASHINGTON—following the second mass shooting on a single army base in five years, the Republican leadership today called for a strict ban on mental illness.
“This tragedy shows that guns and mental illness just don’t mix,” said Speaker John Boehner (R—OH). “The only solution, obviously, is to outlaw mental illness.”
The GOP was not fully united, with members of the party’s libertarian wing warning of government intrusion into a private manner. “When mental illness is outlawed, only outlaws will be mentally ill,” warned Sen. Rand Paul (R—KY). Sen. Paul also warned that the growing Tea Party movement would be “decimated” by a ban on crazy people.
Under the terms of the proposed ban, anyone being found with a mental illness would face a series of short prison terms. Critics have pointed out that this system is already in place across the country.
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