I remember back in the '70's when our state shut down one of the main state mental health hospitals to save money. Many of those people were tossed out into the streets, but several were placed into nursing homes that were NOT equipped, or staffed with trained mental health care nurses. The patients were simply kept heavily medicated to maintain control.
I don't know if in reality it ever saved much of anything. Displaced workers found new jobs, displaced people collected welfare or SSI. Anyone who broke the law was jailed and had to be maintained. All it really did was cause a lot of suffering, and shifted the ledgers to reflect that money wasn't going in the same direction...it went in a different direction.
As an American you have the right to not believe in guns. You also have the right to not believe in God. But if someone is trying to break into your home, or wants to harm you, the first thing you will do is pick up the phone and call someone with a gun. The second thing you will do is pray that they get there in time. ~Don Moore