Mental Illness, Gun Violence, & Media

With the ongoing issue of gun violence in America, mental illness has been linked plenty of times. Almost all of the mass shootings that have shook the nation in most recent years have been connected to mental illness. According to research, mental illness involving violent crimes accounts for only 4–5% in which many of these people have been associated with having schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Even though mental illness takes up only 10% of firearm incidents in America, many individuals seem to stick to the idea that the “mentally ill” are dangerous. Although, there are many who stand behind the fact that mental illness is generalized in mass media, and they believe that mental illness shouldn’t always be to blame when it comes to gun violence.

Is it fair to labelize mental illness as a generalized threat to the public? According to an article by CNN News, mass shootings only represent a small portion in the larger issue of gun violence. It also states that if all violent acts of mental illness were taken away, the problem at hand would only decrease by 4%. There are other forms of violence that America should be focusing on, yet in news outlets, when an outbreak such as a mass shooting happens, mental illness is always to blame. Not to say that it has been proven that mental illness happens to be the cause of many mass shootings in America, but mass shootings only take a small percentage of all firearm violence. An analysis by Everytown for Gun Safety says that only 11% of shooters were reported to a doctor for possibilities of mental illness. This comes to show that stricter background checks for guns can prevent scenarios such as these from happening, but it isn’t fair to categorize individuals for the sake of the people who actually committed these crimes.

Unlike many people, such as President Barack Obama, many GOP (Grand Old Party) candidates have a different approach to the issue of gun control laws. Many believe that gun laws shouldn’t be enforced, but that we should focus more on the issues of mental health policies. Senator Mark Rubio says that “stricter gun control laws wouldn’t prevent the Oregon shooting from happening.” Also, lawmakers in Congress such as Rep. Tim Murphy and Sen. John Coryn have filed bills that basically imply mental health treatment that will prevent violence. Aside from mental health policies, Obama has been trying to pass stricter gun control laws which enhances background checks for individuals. He believes that in his effort to create a safer environment, these cases of mass shootings will stop happening. Some tend to believe that he is targeting the “mentally ill,” but he makes it very clear that is not what he is trying to do.

Media outlets have a way of intimidating Americans into believing that all “mentally ill” people are dangerous people to be around. Some argue that with the proper treatment, mental illness is fixable and curable. Others argue that mentally ill people should be in a different category than the rest of Americans since they are posed as a threat to society. There is no right direction to turn when it comes to the issue of mental illness being associated with gun violence. It’s depiction in mass media is affecting the mentally ill community in ways that many don’t seem to understand.

Board, The Editorial. (2015 December). Don’t Blame Mental Illness for Gun Violence. Retrieved March 12, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/16/opinion/dont-blame-mental-illness-for-gun-violence.html?_r=0

Bradner, Erik & Krieg, Gregory. (2016 January). Emotional Obama calls for ‘sense of urgency’ to fight gun violence. Retrieved March 12, 2016, from http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/05/politics/obama-executive-action-gun-control/

Murphy, Kate. (2015 October). The Problem With Blaming Mass Shootings on Mental Illness. Retrieved March 12, 2016, from http://thefederalist.com/2015/10/19/the-problem-with-blaming-mass-shootings-on-mental-illness/