Mental Health Gun Control

I recognize this topic is both polarizing and emotionally charged, especially in the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings.  I am not, in any way, advocating against gun control laws and the loss to those families and communities is to a depth that words cannot begin to touch.

What I am advocating for is a prioritizing of what I feel is a key component to gun safety, the mind of the individual.  I believe gun control laws are very political and are easy targets for the outpour of emotion following the shootings we have witnessed over the past year.  I also believe that the best safety a gun can have is an emotionally healthy mind.

I've listened to numerous radio shows talking about gun control, new gun laws, what constitutes an automatic weapon, what is the difference between an assault rifle and an assault weapon, etc.  I have also heard autism and other mental illnesses lumped together in generic statements about the shooters in these cases.  It seems so convenient to talk about something concrete like a law restricting firearms, when the other option is to talk about the minds pulling the triggers and what went so horribly wrong in the lives of those individuals.

While I believe we need laws of some sorts controlling the sale of firearms, I don't believe this will ever cure violent outbursts such as what we have seen this year.  Take away the ability to buy a gun an individual, with enough motivation, will still find a way to hurt others.  Laws don't take away pain.  What the government needs to help us start doing is to come alongside others in their pain and care for them, with them.

The United States ranks very poorly in its mental healthcare system.  The government has cut out $1.6 billion dollars in mental healthcare funding since 2009 (link).  In Washington state alone, two mental health wards have shut down due to lack of funding, one of these wards had 30 in-patient beds.  In one month alone, 26 individuals were housed in ERs due to being a danger to themselves or others, there were no mental health facilities to send them too (link).

The easy "fix" is to try to go after the guns themselves.  The reality is people will still be wounded, hurting and in need of care.  Funds need to be given for this to happen.  In a political world where the budget is a target point for both parties, however, it is sad that it looks better to be "fighting the war on guns" while cutting the budget to mental health care, than it does to provide funding to help these minds before they get their hands on a gun in the first place.

Gun control is important.  Mental health care is vital.  Sadly, the latter is being overlooked.