Americans watched in horror 30 years ago when John Hinckley shot President Ronald Reagan -- as well as a Secret Service officer, a police officer and Mr. Reagan's press secretary, James Brady -- outside a Washington hotel.
All four survived, fortunately, though Mr. Brady was permanently disabled by the head wound he suffered.
Hinckley was later found to be insane.
Hinckley has lived many of the years since the shootings at Washington's St. Elizabeths Hospital, and he has been allowed some visits to his mother's home in nearby Virginia.
Now, however, a push is on to allow Hinckley to be away from the hospital for up to 24 days -- and there is even discussion of letting him live away from the hospital permanently. A judge in Washington is hearing arguments on that possibility.
But freeing Hinckley would be extremely unwise.
It may well be that he was insane when he shot Reagan and the three other men.
Obviously, that does not put him in the same category, morally speaking, as someone of sound mind who viciously attempts to kill an innocent person.
But it is ludicrous to assume that psychiatrists or judges or anyone else can truly know that an insane person who once committed such a terrible act is "cured" and will never attempt that sort of thing again.
Hinckley should, of course, be treated humanely, and he should receive the mental health treatment he needs.
But he should not be permitted any sort of unsupervised time away from the mental hospital, and he most certainly should not be set free altogether.
That is too great a danger to the public.