My editor wanted me to write a SharePost about schizophrenia and violence in light of the Arizona shooting by Jared Loughner who shot Gabrielle Giffords and killed members of the public attending her appearance at a shopping center.  The youngest victim was a nine-year old girl.

You might remember that three months ago I wrote Schizophrenia and Violence: Debating the Latest News that unleashed a torrent of comments by community members here.  You might wonder why the debate continues.

First of all: The killer was not diagnosed with schizophrenia.  I don't want my good name tarnished by the likes of a criminal.  The photo of Loughner circulating with the Internet accounts of the crime show him grinning like he's the devil's spawn.

I resent that this guy is roped into the same diagnosis as me when it's not certain he has it and all the evidence points to the idea that he was a sociopath.

I'm a pacifist, OK? Most people diagnosed with schizophrenia are. We're lovers not haters and wouldn't hurt a cockroach. You get what I'm saying, right?

You don't need to shoot animals when you can feed yourself by going into a supermarket and buying a package of chicken cutlets for $10.  You don't have the right to kill people.

The time has come to take on the NRA. Ordinary citizens have no reason to buy firearms. I'm going to get a lot of flak for saying that the right to bear arms is obsolete. 

It's a different world from when the minute men had to protect themselves from the British, OK?

The evidence points to the idea that the killer had a history of smoking marijuana.  The risk of violence in someone with schizophrenia escalates to 28 percent with a co-occurring substance abuse problem, according to studies.  Otherwise it is statistically lower than that of those in the general population who commit a crime.

Should it turn out Loughner has schizophrenia this news account highlights the circular debate about the lack of mental health treatment and services in the U.S. for the great number of people who need help.  There's no parachute for the sickest among us and that is society's great failing: that a person has to commit violence before he or she will be committed to a hospital.

What can be done to stem the tide of violence?  I fear nothing will be done or can be done.  First Virginia Tech and now this.  The comments posted online in response to the news accounts of the shooting do not offer a solution.  Some claim restricting gun sales is not the answer; others claim forced treatment is not the answer.  So what is the solution?

Casual acceptance of violence as the trade-off for our civil liberties doesn't strike me as the answer either.  One person commented that even the professionals can't predict who will commit a crime: that some computer geek loners go on to create a Facebook empire and we can't tip off to the police every person we don't like because we don't approve of them.  Loughner had a history of holing up in the basement of his parents' house and surfing the Internet.