I realize everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I also realize that many, many people in this country disagree with my position on the following topic. But having struggled to make my points known in recent conversations, I felt it necessary to write this.
Before I begin, I should clarify that when I say "mentally ill," I mean those that have a history of violent behavior or thoughts that could potentially bring harm to themselves or others.
I am not against Americans owning guns.
I am not against the rights that the Second Amendment provides Americans.
What I am against is children having access to guns. I am against those who are mentally ill having access to guns. I am against letting those who cannot be responsible gun owners, having guns...the irresponsible being those who allow their guns to end up in the hands of their children, and others who shouldn't have access to them. I am against innocent children, teachers, parents, siblings, friends, and American citizens dying because there isn't proper gun regulation in our country.
If one believes there is not a problem with gun violence in America, they are wrong. "Since 1982, there have been at least 62 mass shootings across the country, with the killings unfolding in 30 states from Massachusetts to Hawaii. Twenty-five of these mass shootings have occurred since 2006, and seven of them took place in 2012;" there have been 5 thus far in 2013 (Follman et al). One of the more troubling aspects of these shootings is that many of the perpetrators had mental illnesses. Some of these individuals even displayed signs of mental illness before committing their terrible acts. Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook Elementary shooter, and James Holmes, the Aurora Theater shooter are two excellent examples of this.
On December 14th, 2012, Adam Lanza entered an elementary school and murdered 26 children and 6 adults. Years prior to this mass shooting, Lanza displayed signs that he was mentally ill but his mother, who is also the person who provided him with the many firearms he used to murder, ignored them. In his room, police found articles about mass shootings; graphic photos of dead people and children holding weapons; a spread sheet that was so detailed in its comparison of body counts and weapons used at so many mass shootings that it had to have taken years to compile. Friends of Lanza's mother stated they had been told by his mother that he was using lighters to burn himself. Yet, the warning signs were ignored and she continued to buy guns, provide teach him how to use them, seemingly without explaining potential consequences of gun, and providing him access to all the guns she owned (Saletan, 2013). Considering the fact that 26 innocent, elementary aged school children died as a result of not only Lanza's actions, but also his mother's, this is perhaps the worst example of a mass shooting resulting from a person's mental illness in the last decade.
On July 20th, James Holmes killed 12 people and injured 70 others inside a Colorado movie theater. A month before this, a psychiatrist met with Holmes and has testified that she had concerns about Holmes' mental state and even went as far as contacting campus police. He admitted to her that he was fantasizing about "killing a lot of people" and despite knowing this, neither the psychiatrist, nor the campus police did anything about it. They also didn't report it to the Aurora police which is perhaps something they should have done, since he lived in Aurora (Saletan). Furthermore, Holmes is now on trial, and has entered a not guilty plea by reason of insanity. It is now the defense attorney's job to prove that Holmes shot and murdered dozens of people because he is severely mentally ill.
Mental illness is real, and something that that should be take very seriously. Stigma surrounding mental illness has existed for centuries. It is time America, and the world for that matter, takes it seriously. When mental illness is mixed with guns, death is imminent. To not see the correlation between these two things, is to ignore facts. If steps to help mental illness are not taken, but rather, we allow guns to be purchased by anyone, anywhere, through any means, at any time, these mass shootings WILL NOT STOP.
On another note, children seem to be dying more and more because they have access to guns. Without even looking at school shootings as an example, there have been many preventable deaths and injuries due to guns, that were committed against, and by young children. Some of these were accidents, yes, but happened because parents weren't behaving responsibly. I know that many parents like to teach their children how to use guns. I am not against this. But if children are going to be around guns, they should absolutely know how to use them properly. They should also be taught about the power guns have and that using guns as a means to threaten someone, or to harm themselves or others is not okay. All that being said though, the human brain doesn't fully develop until one's early to mid 20's. That is, on average, age 23-25. Obviously children can be taught that guns can kill people. But children may not be able to grasp larger concepts behind gun use, such as why it's "okay" to shoot animals while hunting, but isn't okay to shoot the bully in his class. Along with this, comes the concept of death itself. Children aren't necessarily capable of understanding that death means the end, and that when someone dies, they aren't coming back. This is why it is imperative to keep guns away from children.
Furthermore, to compare mass shootings to car accidents, suggests that mass shootings are accidents. They are not. It also suggests that a person taking a gun into a school, movie theater, navy yard, or convenience store with the intent to shoot and kill others is normal. IT ISN'T NORMAL. People are dying because of intentional gun violence. It is so easy to purchase guns. It is easy to purchase ammunition. It is easy in so many places to buy a gun without having to register it, or pass a background check. This puts guns in the hands of people who shouldn't possess them. People who are potentially dangerous, and a threat to society.
Going even further, to compare gun violence to death by golf club, baseball bat, or a car itself, is to commit a logical fallacy. These things are incomparable. Not only that, but more deaths by firearm occur each year than these other weapons, cars being the one exception. And though that is the case currently, a recent study suggests that by 2015, it will no longer be. (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-19/american-gun-deaths-to-exceed-traffic-fatalities-by-2015.html). Not only that, but in many states, including the District of Columbia, this is already true: (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/29/1212375/-Most-recent-data-Gun-deaths-outpaced-auto-deaths-in-12-states).
I would like to reiterate that I am not against a person's right to bear arms. What I am suggesting is that America is turning a blind eye to this issue because we are more concerned with preserving the right to own guns, then even talk about possible ways to reduce gun violence. Our fellow Americans are unnecessarily DYING because no one wants to regulate guns. Now, I understand the opposing argument to gun regulation. The point that I am trying to make though, that our President has tried to make and others who want more gun regulation, is simply that too many guns are killing too many people. The following link to an article compares guns, and cars. What the article proposes makes all too much sense: http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2013/02/learn-lot-comparing-guns-cars.html.
The U.S. Constitution which provides Americans with the right to bear arms was written in the 1700's. During this time, there weren't massive shootings taking place in locations that should be safe. Children weren't shooting their teachers, parents, siblings and peers. Mental illness was something that certainly existed, but something that was ignored, and wasn't something that could be helped like it can now. I am NOT proposing we amend the constitution, and I am certainly NOT suggesting that people no longer be allowed own guns. I am suggesting that creating new laws and regulations that help limit specifically who can have guns, which is most of the American population, will ultimately only benefit American citizens. Implementing laws similar to those that were suggested in the article mentioned above, are not unreasonable.
If you took the time to read this, thank you. Below is a list of links that will take to you to all sources I got my information from.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-19/american-gun-deaths-to-exceed-traffic-fatalities-by-2015.html
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/nvsr61_04_tables.pdf#I01
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2013/02/learn-lot-comparing-guns-cars.html
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/29/1212375/-Most-recent-data-Gun-deaths-outpaced-auto-deaths-in-12-states
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/billofhealth/2012/12/19/gun-regulation-phlr-needed/
http://m.soundcloud.com/slate-articles/unfit-to-bear-arms
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