Via Joe Hoft at JoeHoft.com
Republished with permission from AbleChild.
The tragic irony in Leon County, Florida, is impossible to ignore. The Leon County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) received nearly $1.5 million under the $100 million Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA)—funding meant to reduce gun violence and invest in more mental health. Yet, despite all the money, resources, and new programs, another mass shooting has occurred. This time, the alleged shooter, Elijah Ikner, was not just any community member—he was a participant in the very programs funded by the grant, a member of the LCSO Youth Advisory Council, and someone who had completed multiple sheriff’s office training programs. However, we still await the mental health “treatment” evidence of this case that likely will never be released. It has been reported he was labeled and drugged.
The BSCA was sold to the American public as a historic step forward, pouring hundreds of millions into background checks, mental health services, and community violence interventions. The law’s supporters point to enhanced background checks, new gun trafficking statutes, and a surge in funding for mental health and school safety. But the facts on the ground in Leon County expose a glaring weakness: the system failed to prevent a young man, intimately involved with law enforcement’s youth initiatives, from turning into a killer.
Despite the grant’s intention to “reduce gun violence and other serious violence,” Elijah Ikner—a product of the very programs meant to intervene—ended up taking innocent lives. The sheriff himself admitted it was “not a surprise” that Ikner had access to weapons, given his deep involvement with the department. This is not a story of a system working; it is a story of a system’s catastrophic failure.
For the record, AbleChild strongly opposed this bill on the basis it would only increase the label and drugging of children, not reduce gun violence or stop mass shooting and allow the treating “experts” to escape liability. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was sponsored by Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut and former Senator of Florida, now Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.
The aftermath of Sandy Hook prompted a national reckoning, but lawmakers sidestepped the uncomfortable truth: so many mass shooters have histories of psychotropic drug use. Billions have been funneled into “mental health services,” but there is no real accountability for the psychiatrists who prescribe these drugs or the pharmaceutical companies that profit from them. The BSCA touts its investment in mental health, but fails to require the disclosure, collection and use of mental health records to track these ever growing number of mass killings, or to hold medical professionals and drug manufacturers responsible when their patients become killers.
The Leon County tragedy is not just a local failure—it is another chapter in a national pattern of lawmakers throwing money at symptoms while ignoring root causes, labels and psychotropic drugs. The BSCA’s “successes” are measured in dollars spent and programs launched, not in lives actually saved. Until mental health records are disclosed and meaningfully integrated into prevention efforts, tragedies like Leon County will continue. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, for all its promises and funding, has failed to stop the killing.
The case of Elijah Ikner in Leon County, who participated in sheriff’s office youth programs funded by the Safer Communities Act grant before committing a mass shooting, is a stark example of this failure. Millions are spent on intervention and prevention, but the system refuses to scrutinize the psychiatric treatments themselves or the doctors behind them. The same pattern played out after Sandy Hook, where the accused shooter’s psychiatric history was never fully disclosed, and calls for accountability were ignored. Massive forced mental health screenings were implemented – mental health clinics were placed in schools, and gun manufacturers were put out of business.
HIPAA was never meant to be a shield for secrecy when public safety is at stake—stop hiding behind it, because when a mass killer stands trial, or is killed that person’s right to privacy ends where the public’s right to know and protect itself begins; if psychiatric treatment played a role, that truth must come to light, not only as a matter of justice but to break the cycle of suppressed data that endangers us all.
What you can do. Sign the Petition calling for federal hearings!
Donate! Every dollar you give is a powerful statement, a resounding declaration that the struggles of these families will no longer be ignored. Your generosity today will echo through generations, ensuring that the rights and well-being of children are fiercely guarded. Don’t let another family navigate this journey alone. Donate now and join us in creating a world where every child’s mind is nurtured, respected, and given the opportunity to thrive. As a 501(c)3 organization, your donation to AbleChild is not only an investment in the well-being of vulnerable children but also a tax-deductible contribution to a cause that transcends individual lives.
