Mental Health Evaluations For Gun Purchase

More background checks and laws need to be made in order to prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands. In cities that already have tough regulations, there is still an issue with residents getting firearms from elsewhere. This is proven by Tucker (2016) when she says, “Gun rights advocates note that Chicago already has tough firearms regulations, but that doesn't prevent nearby jurisdictions from selling weapons to Chicago residents.” (p. 2). USA Today (2017) reported as well that, “As for federal gun laws, mental illness disqualifies people from buying or possessing a gun only after they've been involuntarily committed by a court.” (p. 2). This does not make society any safer because the laws that prevent mentally ill civilians from

In today's world there is a big debate on what we should do with guns. Some think we should ban guns, or limit gun possession. Others think we should keep our guns, after all, we have the Second Amendment, which protects the right for civilians to bear arms. But i believe there is another option, I think there is a link between the mass shootings and mental disabilities and diseases, and if that’s true, we should worry about that. According

The question of Gun control is in the news. The subject comes up with each election along with the latest tragedy statistics. Both sides of the debate throw explicit words towards the other, it all turns into an argument and there seems to never be any agreement. It 's very disparaging to me to see the innocent lives of children taken and for a defense gun owners hide behind what amounts to a 400 year old scrap of paper which is neither relevant to modern day problems or understood the same way by any two people reading from it. It really goes to show the poor quality of the generation of people we are in. An example would be, they play the same Christmas songs from 300 years ago and half of them have never seen a sleigh bell or ate a

The debate over gun control is not a new argument, neither is the existence of mental illness. There have been those who support and those who oppose gun control for many years. What has recently re-ignited the debate is an increase in mass shootings over the past few decades; one in particular is the Newtown, Connecticut, massacre. Incidents, such as this, fuel anger and fear, driving many to question the need for firearms in modern society, while others cite these incidents as a reason for remaining armed. The purpose of gun control is to limit the amount of violence in today’s

“Guns don’t kill people, people do.” This is a well known statement that is oftentimes considered true. However, it is not completely true. Someone who is mentally ill may be unable to make logical decisions and the perception they receive of reality may be tainted by the illness. Gun laws pertaining to those suffering mental illnesses should be more restrictive. Weapons such as guns make committing an act of violence, especially when there are multiple victims, much easier. It is difficult to assess the probability of a person to commit a violent act that harms anyone including himself/herself. Therefore, gun laws need be monitored very closely and made more consistent throughout each state in order to prevent violence that could

People with mental illnesses are referred to a wide range of mental health conditions disorders that affect your mood, thinking, and behavior. Examples like Autism, Anxiety Issues, and many more that affect them. It is so easy for anyone to get guns. About over 300 million have been made and sold to people in 2012, so there is a large supply of them. (My Turn: Should People with Mental Illnesses Own Guns?”, 2015). You can easily get one by just bribing a stranger or from a family member so it’s very easy to get one. There should be stricter gun control laws for those individuals with a mental illness history because guns are falling into the hands of people whose actions are unpredictable, research shows that many of the crimes committed are by those with a known mental illness, and the current wait time for owning a gun allows people with a mental illness to act without seeking help first.

The mistaken belief that there is a direct link between mental illness and violence is disrupting the gun control system. Individuals with mental illnesses only cover a very small portion of violence in general, and even less with gun violence. Instead, the focus should be on criminals and drug users. “Individuals who have exhibited dangerous behaviors in the past, have a criminal record, or have a history of drug abuse, for example, are much more likely to commit future crimes” (Wolf, 2015, p.851-878). The reason the government is focusing on certain groups of people are to predict future violence, so if they limit the ability of the mentally ill to purchase weapons they are thinking it will reduce gun violence. This hypothesis would not make a significant dent in the gun violence problem of the United States, because again the mentally ill only make up a very small portion. The shooter of Sandy Hook middle school used his mother’s legally purchased weapons and ammunition to commit the murder, even if the ban of the mentally ill were in place it would not resolve the problem. The only way to make sure future mass shooting done by someone with schizophrenia, or other severe illnesses is to fund the mental health programs, and at the moment the country is doing the exact opposite. “Unfortunately, funding for mental health care has diminished significantly; over the past few years states have cut approximately $4.35 billion from their mental health care budgets” (Wolf, 2015, p.851-878). The best way to stop violence is to recognize there is a

Metzl, Jonathan M., and Kenneth T. MacLeish. “Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the Politics of

Mental Health is the root to numerous problems in America, how your brain deals with certain situations determines how sick or healthy our minds are. Based on a Washington Post-ABC News Poll of 808 adults, 57% agreed that the mass shootings were due to mental health issues whereas 28% said that it was due to inadequate gun control laws (SHEN). Almost 30% additional people thought that it was a mental health issue instead of a gun control issue. Since a larger portion of adults believe that mental health is the root to mass shootings a mental health test need to be complete on anyone who wants to carry or purchase a weapon.

In America, average citizens are subjected to mass shootings that are becoming more frequent and deadlier. A major underlying cause of these fatal mass shootings is the corruption in America’s mental health system. The government has provided stricter gun reforms and “stricter” gun control laws as a possible solution to this problem. Despite the government's efforts to eradicate this problem, mass shootings are still a major threat to society because guns are easily accessible to people who will use them in the wrong way. The government needs to take action such as making more gun laws focusing on mental health, more health educational campaigns, making more resources available that focus on coping skills for anger and conflict resolution

Due to the politics underlying both, gun control and mental-health legislation, this recent shift came with a lack of simplicity. Being careful not to ignite inaccurate stigmas about mental illnesses; advocacy groups and congressional Democrats remained reluctant not to connect escalating gun violence with people suffering from mental health disorders as the leading cause of these recent shootings. Deep disagreements on Capitol Hill, along with great demands from family members of individuals diagnosed with severe mental illness would not come cheap. Also, it would only become another obstacle standing in the way of accomplishing the goal of bringing change to the mental health system (Sun,

Some of the guns used in these shootings were purchased illegally, but in most cases, such as the Virginia Tech shooting, they were purchased legally (Griffin). In order to buy guns legally the stores must run a background check on the person, and currently there is no way of knowing if the person suffers from a mental illness especially if the person has never gone to a doctor for it. While the background checks are necessary they are not all that helpful because most of the crimes committed with guns involve guns that were purchased illegally. The people who are buying guns legally are typically purchasing them for self and home protection These people will most likely only shoot their guns at a range. Surveys of inmates have shown that if they thought that there was a gun in a house they would avoid it. If there were better means of stopping illegal guns the number of crimes committed with guns would drop

People need to realize that people with mental health can be dangerous if we don't get them the help that they need. If we keep on selling people with mental health issues guns then there will be a lot more school shooting but we can decease that. If we make it so if we see a person with an intent of but a gun and they have a history of having mental health issues, then why are we selling them guns I know the its our second amendment witch is the right to bare arms but would you rather loose 17 children or take away that right for persons with a record of mental issues, I don't know, you pick

Gun control has become an increasingly controversial topic in the nation due to the continuous debates relating to gun control and whether or not laws should be passed to make it harder for guns to be obtained. Guns serve for a variety of purposes that range from good to bad. Guns are not for everyone. Some individuals cannot handle guns properly, and some choose to use guns inappropriately. Lately, guns have become more of a problem in our society. There has been an increasing amount of shootings that have taken many lives and have wounded people emotionally, not just physically. Although guns are used for protection, firearms are reportedly used more in crimes. More and more shootings are breaking out across the nation. As a result, the

In his essay “We need to stop the next Aurora Not with Gun Control but with Better Mental Health Treatment” David R. Dow explains how gun control is not the problem in mass shootings. Instead mental health is the real problem. I also believe what Dow expresses in his essay. If we help those whom we ignore and pretend aren’t there then these violent crimes will start to disappear. He wrote the essay to help prevent more shootings, by informing the public on what the real problem is.