NRA: Gun Violence Cannot Be Solved Only By Treating It As A Mental Illness Problem
With all the recent massacre shootings, many people are blaming the mentally ill rather than the availability of the guns themselves. The NRA has suggested that the United States keep an “active national database of the mentally ill.” The problem is that such a database would be impossible to accurately create.
1 out of 4 adults is diagnosed with a mental illness every year. That does not mean that they have developed the illness that year, just that they were diagnosed with it that year.
This means that 1 out of 4 adults is likely to have suffered from a mental illness potentially for several years before it was diagnosed.
Therefore, it is basically impossible to predict when those suffering from mental illness will become violent. Even once you know who the mentally ill are, forcing them to partake in treatment is widely believed to be ineffective; they need to want to be treated.
Another thing to keep in mind is that most people that partake in these infamous shootings aren’t the licensed owners of the guns they kill people with. They tend to either buy them off of the street or “borrow” them from their relatives.
It is the easy access that allows them to commit the atrocities. The best way to minimize gun violence is to provide more accessible mental health care to those who need it, and, more importantly, make guns less available to the public.
There is no reason why anyone needs an assault rifle. Period. A handgun will easily protect you from half a dozen attackers. That’s what guns are supposedly for, right? Protection?
Paul Hudson | Elite.
