Anchorage Daily News:

A woman who said she was upset over a pet cat was hospitalized Tuesday night after a standoff with police at a senior citizens housing complex off Peck Avenue in Muldoon, Anchorage police say.

Police said the woman, who at one point aimed a handgun at a neighbor, refused for several hours to come out of the Centennial Village residence.

The woman apparently took some medication during the standoff and fell asleep, according to police Lt. Dave Parker. Police entered the residence and found her and a cat, Parker said.


...The woman has had mental health problems before, police said, and they were for a time uncertain if there was a real cat involved.

We live in a society that does not take mental health and gun ownership seriously. It's totally insane that people who hear voices in their heads have difficulty getting decent medical treatment but no difficulty getting their crazy hands on guns. Indeed, the shooting that happened in West Seattle last week can be blamed on society and an individual: society for its lack of anything close to mental health seriousness, and the individual for not taking gun ownership seriously.