Last weekend tragedy struck when a mass shooter opened fire at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, one of the safest cities in America. At least a dozen people, many of them young and college-aged, died.
President Donald Trump has regularly politicized mass shootings on Twitter, infamously calling for teachers to carry guns in school. In response to the Thousand Oaks shooting, he blamed mental illness. However, most gun violence is committed by someone without a mental health diagnosis.
Mental health interventions have the potential to help reduce both mass shootings and suicides, but it can be problematic to focus on mental health as the sole talking point for gun control.
Thousand Oaks was the 307th mass shooting this year and there have been 339 victims of mass shootings in the United States during 2018, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit organization that collects and publishes data on gun violence in the United States.
Mass shootings are a uniquely American tragedy, as a third of the world’s mass shootings occur in the United States. They are a subset of America’s much more severe gun-violence problem.
In 2016 and 2017, there were more than 15,000 gun-related deaths and an additional 22,000 gun suicides per year.This would make suicide the most common form of gun-related death, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Suicide is also one of the most common ways for a mass shooter to die. After police arrived on the scene at the Borderline in Thousand Oaks, the shooter engaged with officers, fatally wounding Sgt. Ron Helus of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. The gunman then committed suicide with his own firearm.
Mental illness is a broad and encompassing term, and it would be inappropriate to suggest that all mental illnesses increase the risk of gun violence.
The systems for screening for mental health aren’t foolproof either. The shooter in Thousand Oaks had prior contact with law enforcement and had undergone psychiatric evaluation, but had not been disarmed even though California law allows law enforcement to disarm people who show signs of violence.
It’s possible that officials messed up, or that their department hadn’t implemented California’s “Red Flag” law, but it’s more likely that the shooter, a Marine veteran who may have been suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, just didn’t show any obvious signs of a predisposition for violence.
Mass shootings hit close to home for many, but politicians haven’t just balked at dealing with gun violence — they’ve resisted and used mental health as a scapegoat rather than a real talking point for common-sense gun legislation.
These aren’t real attempts to find a solution to reduce gun violence — they’re deflections away from the issue. Congress hasn’t enacted gun control legislation in the last 3 years. After the Parkland school shooting, the National Rifle Association broke its own fundraising record.
All victims of gun violence deserve to be remembered in thoughts, prayers, advocacy and action. Common-sense gun legislation needs to include bans on assault weapons, extended magazines and bump stocks.
So when Congress gets ready to pass the next round of legislation, demand comprehensive legislation, and don’t be fooled by half-steps or deflections.
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