CRIMINALIZING HUMANNESS:

 Put aside the perjury charge (as Peterson certainly had a duty to the truth), Peterson has been charged, presumably because he was on duty, on the scene, yet did not enter the school with his own gun blazing. "Negligence" as a crime! Meaning, he can potentially go to jail, if convicted, for a long time largely because he lacked the strength of character to rush in to a field of battle -- as might a  fireman, to a raging fire - where (one can presume) he feared his own life would be in danger. And yes, he was a policeman (or was until he resigned in the wake of the ignominy over his "neglect") and was duty bound to protect the public, and especially the students. But filing criminal charges, even though the relevant statutes likely make out the crimes charged, for freezing in that moment? [...]

This prosecution is largely unusual, actually unheard of. Whether Peterson is convicted or not, it remains to be seen if it will turn out to have been a good thing for the public. No one can have sympathy for Peterson's conduct in having abandoned his post and students, particularly when he might have saved lives. Still, criminalizing not doing something, which is what this case effectively does, may put an unsustainable demand on law enforcement.

The real issue here is ultimately one of prosecutorial discretion. Prosecutors must gain a sense of vengeance for their communities. Clearly, the Florida State Attorney was confronted with truly awful facts. The families of victims and their community wanted, and deserved, appropriate retribution for what occurred. The principal offender, though, the trigger man Cruz, is being prosecuted to the full extent of the law. He is alive, and will be there to face that vengeance that is fully warranted. Must a prosecutor in such circumstances also pursue, as is happening here, a grossly flawed man whose actual "crime" was a breakdown in character for failing to protect and defend?

More U.S. Army soldiers die by suicide than in combat. There are a number reasons for that, but a study published on Friday in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows a strong relationship between keeping a personal firearm and suicide among soldiers.

The study, the first of its kind, looked at the histories of 135 active duty U.S. Army soldiers who committed suicide between August 1, 2011, and November 1, 2013, dates coinciding with a peak in suicides among soldiers. Shootings accounted for 55 percent of those deaths. That, by itself, might not be surprising. What is remarkable, in the words of the researchers, is that having access to a loaded gun at home, or carrying one in public, "resulted in a 4-fold increase of the odds of suicide" compared to other soldiers.

The authors point to an existing psychological theory to explain why that might be so. The interpersonal theory of suicide posits that simply a desire to commit suicide is usually not enough to convince people to take their own life. The theory argues that people who have overcome a fear of death through repeated exposure either to personal pain or fearinducing experienecs, or the pain and fear of others, are more likely to commit suicide. Another study from 2012 found that men who keep loaded weapons also exhibit a reduced fear of death.

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