JENNY TOLLEFSON
IT HAS BEEN FOUND THAT OFTEN PEOPLE such as Rusty Weston commit horrible acts of high-profile violence in an attempt to gain national attention. By “honoring” Weston with your cover, you have helped fuel the desires of other potential assassins to gain this same fame.
MOLLY SMART
I FOUND YOUR COVER ARTICLE ON RUSTY Weston disappointing. Although you mention Weston’s diagnosis as a paranoid schizophrenic, nowhere did you mention that schizophrenia is a biologically based disease, and that its effects are not the patient’s fault any more than are those of Alzheimer’s disease. Unfortunately, you only perpetuated the myths and stigmas associated with mental illness. You could render a great service by informing readers that these illnesses are treatable with medication, but patients need a support system to regain a place in society. If this system existed, the Capitol Hill tragedy might not have happened.
ELDRIDGE M. MOORES
LIKE MANY IN AMERICA, I WEPT FOR THE victims of the Capitol Hill shooting, but I also have compassion for the parents of Rusty Weston. What grief and regret they must carry in their hearts. They, too, are victims in this tragedy. Parents of adult mental patients have little recourse to protect themselves or society when their children become deranged. I know of this firsthand. My adult son is mentally ill, and dealing with his problems is the most painful, emotionally draining situation in my life, and will continue to be until one of us is gone. Getting help isn’t easy. I have begged, pleaded, bullied, gone to court, called politicians and used friends. Years ago our government decided that mentally ill patients should be released from institutions with only pills to handle their serious conditions. This solution cries for supervision, yet it is too costly for the richest nation to provide adequate care, so the Westons and Hinckleys are free to act out their delusions on society. It’s their right. We are after all the land of the free, as long as we aren’t in the right place at the wrong time.
NAME WITHHELD
I WATCHED WITH SADNESS THE SERVICE for the two slain Capitol police officers–sadness for them, for their families and for a nation that still can’t fathom the connection between its devotion to private arms possession and the tragedy that possession begets. When the National Rifle Association parades celebrities lauding the virtues of gun possession, is it any wonder we reap what we sow? We seem to do no better than respond to tragic shootings with mere hand-wringing, blaming only the possessor and never the culture that accepts and advocates possession.
RICHARD R. ESPEY
