Worst joke you could ever play in America
AUSSIE Isabel Thomson-Officer was working at a restaurant in New York when a man entered with a gun — that’s when everyone panicked.
ON JULY 3, on the eve of when the United States would be celebrating America’s Independence and what it means to be a citizen of this country, a man decided to play a rather traumatising prank at my workplace in New York City.
At about 2.20pm, a mentally-ill man approached us and pretended to have a gun.
A strange silence fell over the staff and diners as the man stood there aggressively pointing the pretend weapon through the open restaurant windows. We all sat there frozen trying to assemble in our minds what exactly was happening.
Was this a not-so-funny joke or was something really, really terrible about to happen? The longer he stood there holding the object aggressively with a crazed look in his eye, the more uncomfortable everyone became. Our collective uncertainty of the situation deepened and after about 10 seconds that’s when everyone panicked.
Tables turned up and plates and glasses smashed as everyone ducked for cover and some of us fled to the kitchen to hide and call 911.
Thankfully, the gunshots we were all hiding from never happened. Authorities were on the scene within five minutes and we were all able to count our lucky stars that it was nothing more serious.
Despite this, the terror and sinking dread that swept over me at that moment, was a feeling that I hope I never have to experience again — I truly thought for a few seconds we were about to be the next mass shooting victims in America.
I’m so, so, so grateful that it was nothing more than a twisted prank by an unstable man and that everyone was OK — other than a little shaken up.
How the police handled the situation, though, was pretty poor and something I can only assume happens far too often.
Upon arriving at the scene they approached him, had a chat and then took him away in their police car. No report was filed, no statement was made, they did not speak to any staff member nor check on the diners to ensure everyone was OK. We were just left to pick up the pieces without any explanation.
Having followed the matter up with the local precinct this seems to be standard protocol as they don’t file reports or any paperwork if they decide on the spot that the person is mentally ill without being assessed by a psychiatrist.
He was taken to the nearest psych ward and dropped off where he can refuse treatment if he chooses and be released back on to the street where he will once again have to fend for himself and likely be unable to afford the medication necessary to keep his mental health stable.
Yes, I know what I’ve described might all sound melodramatic but bear with me — I want you to stop and think about this for a minute. With the horror of the Dallas police shooting and Orlando nightclub shooting fresh in everyone’s minds, what could have happened is a very real possibility.
This didn’t happen in Australia where a mass shooting hasn’t occurred in 20 years. I live in America where a mass shooting takes place on average every day, civilians in many states are legally able to own not just handguns, but semi-automatic assault weapons capable of killing a room, a restaurant, or a theatre full of people in a matter of seconds.
You can even get an AR-15 (a popular semi-automatic assault rifle used in numerous US mass shootings) personally customised. The most terrifying part that allows these weapons to end up in the hands of insane people is that in many places in America, the state of your mental health seems to be a minor consideration (if at all) when buying a gun. Even worse is that background checks are not required by unlicensed private gun sellers which more commonly known as ‘the gun show loophole’.
Horrifyingly enough, it is still possible to purchase a gun online in the US without a background check, which means those suffering from mental illnesses can quite easily get their hands on firearms if they wish.
The look in the eye of the man from the incident was of someone who wanted what he was holding to be real and I do find it alarming that the police didn’t take the whole matter more seriously. And don’t get me wrong, I really do feel for this guy. He is clearly someone suffering from severe mental illness with unpredictable behaviour who needs to be in a facility where he can receive proper treatment.
When it comes to background checks and firearms, there are loopholes and online private gun sales can make it very easy to bypass the paperwork.
Smart Background Checks reported that according to an investigative report by the City of New York, 62 per cent of private online firearm sellers agreed to sell a firearm to a buyer even after they told the seller they likely would not pass a background check.
The National State Conference of State Legislatures states that you must declare if you are suffering from a mental illness in the State of New York when applying for a firearm permit, but on this NYC government site, there is no mention at all of mental health evaluation in the application process.
Gun reform isn’t going to happen anytime soon — the Second Amendment right to bear Arms is too embedded in American culture, the NRA is too powerful and funds far too many political campaigns, meaning that guns are just far too accessible to civilians.
After every mass shooting that occurs in America, states that are run by Republican legislature are 75 per cent more likely to loosen gun laws.
It’s shocking and sickening and I don’t know what it’s going to take to change things. Even though nothing terrible happened at my workplace, it really hit home how vulnerable you are in a situation like that.
The pathway to mass shootings in America that allow guns to end up in the hands of insane people is far too enabled by the authorities, the NRA and those politicians that take their money, lax laws and a broken mental health care system.
It is well and truly time they are all held accountable.
Follow Isabel on Twitter @missizzyofficer
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