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The Effects Of Mass Shootings

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MacLeish, 60 percent of perpetrators of mass shootings in the US since 1970 displayed symptoms of paranoia, delusions, and depression before committing the crimes (246). Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza, was diagnosed with schizophrenia a few days after the shooting, and James Holmes, the Aurora, California movie theatre shooter was seeing a psychiatrist for schizophrenia before his shooting (Metzl and MacLeish 246). About half of mass shootings are done by people who have been declared to have a severe mental illness, mostly schizophrenia, and because of these incidences, they shed light on mental health networks as well as improved state laws and procedures regarding gun access (Metzl and MacLeish 246). Michael Bostwick stated that, “taking guns away from the mentally ill won’t eliminate mass shootings unless such efforts are linked to larger prevention efforts” (qtd in Metzl and MacLeish 246). Some would like to argue that the notion that if those who carried out the shooting would have had more psychiatric help would have prevented the shooting is more complicated than that (Metzl and MacLeish 246). Arguably though, this is a great start to look at potential solutions. These larger prevention efforts Michael mentions will further be discussed later in this paper. Of course stopping mass shooting crime is a vital goal, but it is also important to focus on polices in areas like Oakland, California who had eleven gun crimes a day in 2013 and suicides that outnumber any deaths
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