So first off let us get somethings out of the way.
Yes Joe Rogan is a Comedian and the guy who used to host the fear factor. He also is a commentator for the UFC. For those who don't know he also has a popular Podcast; The Joe Rogan Expierience.
Recommended for you
I have been a listener to the podcast for about two years now and I can agree I don't see eye-to-eye with everything he believes in or the views he expresses. I think he absolutely nailed it on the head when he expressed his views on gun control. I am not sure when he first quoted this as I have heard him say it on the podcast but I found a tweet he posted in July of 2013, and the tweet goes:
"This country has a mental health problem disguised as a gun problem and a tyranny problem disguised as a security problem." (https://twitter.com/joerogan/status/29553479871640...)
As for the tyranny aspect of Joe's tweet, I am not sure exactly which issue Joe is touching on there (law enforcement, NSA, Government) so I am going to put that aside for now and focus on the gun control part.
I can't lie I think he nailed it on this one. He is correct, while I do think it should be a little more difficult to purchase a weapon, the issue is not the gun but the mental state of people who are holding the weapon. After every shooting and massacre there is always a debate on the weapons but not on why the shooter did it. None of these massive shootings that we here about have been decided on a whim. Orlando, Aurora, Sandy Hook; these shootings were premeditated. None of these shooters were the same, except in one aspect. They were mentally ill. Let us start with the most recent one. The Orlando shooter was by most of what I have heard, a closeted homosexual. Now I have no sympathy for someone who carries out the actions that this man did but lets look at his situation. He came from a conservative, Islamic family that had preached from a young age that homosexuality was evil. As he got older and began to become aware of who he was one doesn't have to try hard to imagine the inner conflict that must of begun in his mind. Mix in steroid use and this becomes a rather nasty concoction and rather than ever seeking out help this shooter decided to murder many members of a community that had accepted him for who he was.
The other shooters were also cases of individuals who slipped through the cracks of society and became the monsters that cause us to rethink our safety in our most vulnerable times. The Aurora shooter was a deranged individual who was also incredibly intelligent. After the shooting it came out that this shooter had a long history of mental illness that went untreated or the most part. The Sandy Hook shooter was a deeply troubled individual. He was described as disconnected and many believe he may have had some mental disorder in high school that was never diagnosed.
So I just want to say again Joe nailed it. This is not an issue of what we need to do to ensure people cannot get weapons at all. We have a mental health issue. So when are we going to start talking about it?
