So lately there has been a lot of talk because of the recent shootings about the mentally ill and the mentally ill having access to firearms.

I have heard many pundits, many glpers, many everyday people talking about this, yet no one really has any solutions.

I make this thread under the assumption we all or at least most of us wish to live in a free society. With that said, how in a free society do we prevent or lower the chances of a mentally ill person obtaining a firearm? We can't go around involuntarily committing people we "suspect" may be mentally unstable.

Plus it starts to get shaky when we try and define mentally unstable and who should define this? Plus the meds we give the mentally ill generally have negative psychological effects. Potentially making a bad situation worse.

Is there a way to tackle this problem without violating peoples civil rights? Without doping everyone we suspect to be mentally ill into a drug induced coma? Also without restricting gun rights?

What do you all think?