Welcome, potential person who has some skin in the gun control game (one way or the other).
Let me possibly confuse you, first thing: I don’t want to take anyone’s guns away.
Now let me clear that up: You get more views of your content via “shocking” or otherwise manipulative headlines. If that causes you some indignation (as opposed to other sites doing it and just not telling you) then I apologize and I won’t be upset if you stop reading.
This is mainly about mental health. Before you go making assumptions, I realize that there are plenty of people on both sides of the issue who realize that mental health is a very important topic, and that they actually act on it. I also realize that there are plenty of people on both sides of the issue who proclaim they think it’s an important topic but are really just dodging since they are the first to decry mental illness when it “helps” the perpetrator of something like a mass shooting avoid the death penalty.
My sister suffers from mental illness. I care for her greatly, even though I’ve seen her say and do some incredibly terrible things to other family members – and even to me a few times, whereas I’m usually able to talk her down – and every time she goes through a bad period I always find myself upset at how little is done for her by the people who are supposed to help her: mental health professionals won’t take her in as a patient, the ones who do only listen to her for 15 minutes and then give her some drugs, the hospitals’ concern only extends as far payment does, and the police only care that she isn’t harming anyone if they even respond to calls from/about her. She is unable to hold a job due to her illness so she has to receive assistance from the state. My parents help her out when they can, as well, but my family is middle class: there’s little to offer. All that wraps up to be a dire situation and when my sister tells me she’s feeling depressed I can understand.
The point is, the help isn’t there for the majority of people. Even for those with the resources it sometimes isn’t there. This is mainly because people either refuse to or don’t understand what it means to be mentally ill. My example above about the mass shooting illustrates the point perfectly: most people still think that “evil” motivates an Adam Lanza into a mass shooting, as if he rationally sat down and told himself about what he was going to do. This, of course, is asinine – by its very definition those actions defy rationality.
Now, the crux of all my exposition on this topic is not to discredit gun control legislation. I am not a fan of banning things because it ultimately doesn’t solve the problem but I certainly understand the argument: without access to the guns (especially in Lanza’s case) there’s most likely no violence – and I know that other countries have seen positive results from legislation. However, the real problem is getting the right help for people who need it so that someone like James Holmes doesn’t even find himself in a position to “rationalize” killing people. The lobby against gun control is so powerful, as well, that politicians lose their seats as a result of even small attempts to legislate. Of course that isn’t a reason to give up or move on, but imagine if mental illness got the same amount of power behind it that gun control has. People like my sister might be able to see a doctor instead of being turned away simply because she is a ward of the state. She wouldn’t have to be placed into a hospital and discharged a short while afterward when she still isn’t okay. The police would know not to patronize her or, if she does something worthy of an arrest, they would know to handle it gracefully. It would mean that the people who have previously felt there were no paths besides a Columbine/Tucson/Washington Naval Yard/Mission Valley mall would have support and, with any luck, lessen those types of atrocities.
If you’re pro-gun and thinking I’m on your side, think again. As I stated above, I don’t believe we should be outright banning guns. However, I doubt the candor any of the protestations given by the NRA and other supporters, though. Two, off the top of my head: 1) “Criminals don’t care about the law,” and 2) “What about gang violence?” They are, on the surface, decent things to bring up. Per my examples, a person who is going to commit a crime doesn’t care if using a gun is outlawed and gang violence is still a very big concern – but here’s my problem with that reasoning: Those things have nothing to do with the link between guns and mental health and as a result, you sound both uninformed and insensitive. Uninformed because a mass shooter isn’t a criminal holding up a convenience store at gunpoint or a gang member for the very reasons I listed in the first part. Insensitive because those protestations only come off as red herrings, and they aren’t consolations for people who lost loved ones; rather, they seem as attacks. Think about it – in reworked language, you’re basically saying, “This material thing [the gun] is more important to me than the fact that you lost someone.” (I get that it’s about much more than the object.) The same query I posed earlier applies to the gun owners: Think about what would happen if the energy spent on those protestations and lobbying against gun control was spent on advocating for the mentally ill.
Both sides of the issue, in their hectic dance, overlook the importance of the killer – the root problem that needs to be solved. If your gut reaction to these terrible events is contempt for the perpetrator, or to immediately pull out the second amendment, or to immediately begin crowing about laws to get rid of certain types of guns then I don’t think you are focusing your energy constructively. Like any other kind of social issue in this country it comes down to exposure and awareness. If you’re interested in learning more there are a myriad of resources to look at – a simple Google search for “mental illness awareness” alone will turn up many good ones. If you are one of those folks who needs things to be shared to you, a good start is the NAMI website.
If nothing else, I hope that my words have caused you to think. Perhaps, if you are all too familiar with the struggles of mental illness – be it you or someone you love suffering – you’ll share your story.