Mental Illness And Gun-Purchase Firearms

The purpose of this research paper is to analyze the relation between gun violence and mental disorders and/or diseases. Within we will find if the violence in society is truly an issue, or if the real issue is the mental health and sanity of our society.

It can be really over whelming for a person. For example Aaron Alexis the navy yard shooter had mental illness but never went and got treated for it like he should have. The navy yard shooter is a prime example of what happens you choose to ignore your mental health issues.

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 question of how to make our communities safer has a list full of solutions which seem to never end. The great debate begins with have any of these solutions worked, or have the right solutions been put to play. Gun control is a very popular topic today, and rightfully so. The media has shined light on mass shootings that have claimed many lives and destroyed families. The question is on who, or what does the blame fall on. Are the gun owners the responsible, or are the weapons themselves to blame? A solution that has been set forth concludes that in order to become a firearm owner, mental stability should be proved. Should government enforce mental health evaluations for gun purchase?

While mass shootings will almost always make the news, and nine times out of ten involve an individual that is mentally ill getting their hands on a gun. Take a look at the movie theater incident, Sandy Hook, and the latest school shooting in Oregon, all these shooters were mentally ill and yet somehow they acquired a firearm. Should we fault the mental health system or

Across the nation, many states have begun to reassess their mental health policies and how they affect gun control. One state in particular is Maryland. In 2012, Maryland began a legislative task force to investigate the access of individuals with mental illness to regulated firearms (Maryland, 2013). Under current state law, access to firearms is denied to anyone who has been confined to a mental health facility for more than 30 consecutive days. The law also states that the individual must be determined to be dangerous to themselves or to others along with their mental illness in order to be denied access to firearms. The other question asked is what access law enforcement officers should have to mental health records. In an article by Gostlin (2011) he states “Successfully reducing firearms-related

“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.

Even though anyone can buy a gun from a private vendor, some mentally ill people can slip through the federal mental health system and purchase a gun from a federally approved vendor. The current administration is pointing their fingers at the mentally ill and not focusing on the corruption of the actual mental health system. Under the federal law, a mentally ill person does not have the right to possess or purchase a gun from a legal vendor but only if they are involuntarily committed to a mental hospital or if the government declares the person mentally ill. (Shortell 1). After the eighteenth mass shooting of 2018 Trump called for a focus on mental health. Although the current administration says that this is their new focus, Trump revoked a bill that added mentally ill people to gun check register which is a step backward in the prevention of shooting caused by the mentally ill. ( Korosec 2) The few laws that are actually passed often have loopholes. For example, through the Baker Act, anyone who is involuntarily committed is placed on a federal registry designed to prevent them from buying a firearm; however, only about 2 percent of Baker Act commitments in are involuntary. Individuals who agree to a voluntary commitment still retain the right to purchase a firearm.

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,

Since 1982, there have been over 85 mass shootings in the United States. Of those 85 shootings, three quarters of the weapons used were obtained legally. That means that our background check system has failed. If purchasers were required to undergo a mental health evaluation, numerous lives would be saved. Many mass shooters have shown previous signs of mental instability. Take Jared Loughner, the man who opened fire at a public constituent meeting in a Tucson, Arizona supermarket parking lot wounding 13 people and killing 6. Loughner had been showing signs of mental illness for years. He was even suspended from college for disrupting class and showing bizarre behavior. The college told him he needed to be cleared by a mental health professional before he could return. Instead, Loughner dropped out of school. In addition to his disruptions at school, he had many run ins with law enforcement. In fact, on the day of the shooting,

People with mental illness or convicted felons needs to have a background check before they can possess a firearm. Getting a background check shows the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives(ATF) of any type record you have against you. Background checks can see if you

So a bonfire issue burning its way through the United States and Canada is the debate on gun control, and now it has made its way down under. Currently Australia is being rocked by what is being called its worst mass shooting in decades when an older gentleman shot killed his entire family and then himself. This has lead to the questioning of the country’s laws on firearms and the comparison to those of the United States, thus re-igniting the left’s age old argument; “Guns kill people!” What this has to do with mental illness? Guns don’t kill people; people do, specifically those who struggle with mental health issues.

Under the Obama administration, if someone could not work because of a mental disability and could not manage their own Social Security benefits, they were not eligible to own or buy firearms. This restriction is no longer in place, as the Trump administration

This is one of many problems encountered when trying to use the second amendment to regulate firearm obtainment and use. Another example is “Persons with mental illness and/or substance abuse are frequently perceived by the public to be dangerous. This has resulted in an increase in state legislation restricting their ability to purchase, possess, register, obtain licensure, retain, and/or carry a firearm of any sort” (Donna M. Norris, M.D. Thomas Gutheil et ect…) Legislation and many other states have referred to guidelines on a person’s mental illness and whether they would be able to acquire a firearm. The problem with that is that the guidelines vary from state to state. What may also constitute as a serious mental illness in one state, may be minor or minuscule in the next. Another problem is the restriction of certain types of guns and their restrictions to those of a mental illness. “States vary according to whether or not a specific type