Readers React: Isla Vista attack raises alarms

It has indeed been sadly demonstrated that no alarms were sounded about Elliot Rodger prior to his gun rampage in Isla Vista this past weekend despite some warnings. There have been, however, countless red flags raised about the dangers of having the access Rodger had to guns. (“In Isla Vista, red flags came too late,” May 25)

I blame not only those who misread and misinterpret the U.S. Constitution, which they also unreasonably cite as holy writ on a par with scripture. I also blame the politicians who pontificate about the horrors of innocent people being killed by these weapons while continuing to accept money from the National Rifle Assn.

I am weary of this repeated scenario, and I await the next front-page article on another mass murder committed by someone with easy access to guns designed not for “protection,” but primarily to kill people.

Don Fisher

Claremont

The real cause of Rodger’s mass killing of others was not the guns or knives he used to kill, but the inadequate laws regarding our mental health system.

Once a mentally ill person is 18 years old, he has the “right” to decline treatment and to stop taking medication. Relatives have no right to access his records or discuss the case with clinicians. Their hands are tied legally when it comes to helping a troubled adult.

Rodger was resistant to the idea of taking medication because he had the “right” to be so. When psychotic people make their own decisions about their care, they don’t often make good decisions.

Mary Jo Brown

Los Angeles

As a mental health clinician working with young adults, it saddens me that with all of the “red flags” in this case — manifestoes, parents’ concerns over his abhorrent writings of suicide and homicide, previous police involvement and mental health counseling — no one failed to enact the Tarasoff doctrine.

In its 1976 decision in the case Tarasoff vs. the Regents of the University of California, the state Supreme Court held that mental health professionals have a duty to protect individuals who are being threatened with bodily harm by a patient. This includes notifying police or warning the intended victim, among other options.

With the mandated reporters involved in this case, why was this young man not psychiatrically hospitalized? How many of these random acts of violence will it take to get mental health treatment out of the closet and being talked about by the general public?

Matthew J. Rohr

Pasadena

The writer is a marriage and family therapist.