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Why Better Mental-Health Care Won’t Stop Mass Shootings In my perspective, this article changed my world view on how providing health care won’t necessarily stop shootings from happening. An example given in the article was of how many of the past shooters were unable to recognize their problems. This would led to them not looking for the help they needed. “ Because they blame the outside world for their problems, mass murders would likely resist therapies…” These mass murders always blame their problems on others which is why they commit these crimes. In this article it is stated that in the recent Las Vegas shooting, the suspect had no background of mental illnesses and if he did it would really discourage him. This makes me think that
other actions should be made to prevent these mass shootings such as passing gun laws. Since it is hard to detect mental illnesses among these individuals and be able to discourage their actions. Many people have this idea that problems such as this is providing better options for mental health care such as the Paul Ryan. He suggested a mental health care reform regarding the Las Vegas shooting. I thought that better mental health care would help but that's not the case. Growing up in a country where these crimes have become a regular thing angers me because there are innocent people suffering such as children. This article has shown me that even better health care seems like good option it won’t help stop them. As they have a certain mindset that wouldn’t allow them to help themselves. Therefore, leading my final idea that something else needs to be done.
Over the past years media has been overwhelmed with news about mass shootings happening around America and if mental illness is the primary cause of the violent act. On February 2014, Jonathan M. Metzl and Kenneth T. MacLeish published their article “Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the Politics of American Firearms” in the American Journal of Public Health that addresses the issue that mental illness has very little to do mass shootings which is commonly used on the aftermath of the shooting
Lankford also states that in paragraph 4: They are felt like they have been given false hope as they were told that success and wealth comes from hard work. Not really seeing the the true success they thought could be succeed when failing making them turn on other people. I think people should understand these people with these kind of certain mental problem than to study which can help reduce mass killers, “The vast majority of people with mental illness are not violent and never will be.” ( Swanson ) Meaning a few people are, but it's hard to identify these types of people as Jonathan Metzl said in the last paragraph: “So there’s no psychiatric test that can prevent a mass shooting mass. They are hard to predict.” We, ourselves have to remind one another that we are all humans and not everyone think the same way or the way you predicted them
Mental health is huge problem in the United States, especially when it allows certain individuals to have access to firearms. Politicians should aim to work more on keeping guns out of the hands of those who seek to harm others, not the law abiding citizens. But this is no easy task. In the CNN article, The real gun problem is mental health, not the NRA, the author, Mel Robbins, points how the mental health problem is to blame , not the gun. Robbins states "Next time there 's a mass shooting, don 't jump to blame the National Rifle Association and lax gun laws. Look first at the shooter and the mental health services he did or didn 't get, and the commitment laws in the state where the shooting took place." (Robbins) Like the first article, the author uses the ethical approach. How can we just sit by and let this keep happening? Many people seek help for mental illness and do not get the proper help that they deserve. If the proper steps were taken, some of these tragedies could have been prevented. The background check system should be a little tougher than it currently is. This is something that many law abiding gun owners agree on. Especially when it comes to the mental health part. Giving a mental health screening to somebody before getting a firearm would almost certainly help. However, no system is perfect. It would have its flaws. Not only is mental
Gun control is a controversial topic in today’s society. Some people believe that guns should get taken away from citizens completely, while others say there should just be tighter laws. Nicholas Kristof has been a journalist and writer since 2001, and a winner of two Pulitzer Prizes. In 2017, Kristof wrote the article “How to Reduce Shootings”. Kristof have three main points, the first point was that stricter gun laws lowered homicide rates. The second point was how there is a lack of research on guns. The last point he made was the mass shootings are not the main cause of loss of life. The article has been held up by liberals because the article argues that fewer guns will cause fewer deaths, however, the article has a number of critics who argue that the article doesn’t focus on the safety of Americans. In the article “How to Reduce Shootings”,
Although The Dark Knight is completely fictional, the news reporters are linking mental illness with violence even when reporting stories that are true. A Huffington Post article about the James Holmes mass shooting says “cracks in the mental health system” at the school he attended. There are always precautions to take with school shootings, but you can’t always prevent it. This is portrayed as psychosis due to the violence intended by the shooting. This is a misconception because the maj...
have shown the firearm homicide and suicide rates in the US are several times higher than that of any other industrialized country” (Towers 2). The automatic reaction people have to mass shooting is talking about gun control and mental illness policies. Every time a mass shooting occurs both the people and the government go crazy trying to find a solution yet there is no solution. The United States needs to set up mental illness awareness programs to decrease the number of mass shootings.
On April 16th, 2007 Cho had created one of the most deadly school shootings in America. ( "Virginia Tech Shootings Fast Facts." CNN.) It was unfathomable to think that in the close future, America would encounter many more detrimental school shootings. This is including the shooting of elementary students in Newtown, CT where Adam Lanza had shot and killed 27 children and faculty. Lanza had been known to have significant health issues that had kept him from living a normal life. (Sanchez, Ray, Chelsea J. Carter in Atlanta, Yon Pomrenze in New York, and The CNN New York Bureau Staff. ) Both of these shooters had killed themselves shortly after their attacks. School violence has become a nation-wide issue.
Gun control recently has rapidly become an even further controversial topic due to violent acts against the public by troubled individuals. How were these attacks allowed to happen? As stated in Framing Health Matters article, “In the United States, popular and political discourse frequently focuses on the causal impact of mental illness in the aftermath of mass shootings.” (.1) This issue unfortunately remains so overlooked that media sources only offer it attention after a tragedy. Not to mention the impact these situations have on the society. No normal person decides to harm people solely due to the fact that they can obtain a weapon easily. To be able to move forward with these irrational decisions the
In 2013, research conducted by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) defined public mass shootings as events that happened in a public place where four or more people were injured or died as a result of gunfire. CRS also argued that the gunman typically selected their victims at random. J. Harris and R. Harris (2012) referred to public mass shootings acts as rampage violence. Ironically, following each tragic public mass shooting identified above, there were spirited debates about gun control among political pundits, government officials and the American people , deliberations on the influence of media and entertainment glorifying violence, gaps in mental health services and a commitment to address the problem but to no avail. With no progress made on addressing public mass shootings, it was concluded that current research on mass violence has been ineffective and required some modification (J. Harris & R.
Mass shootings have become a common occurrence in the United States society and have brought our society's safety debate to the attention of American politics. Both sides of the debate agree that we need more safety precautions but neither side can officially agree on what is to be done. What can we do about the raging number of mass shootings? There is no definite solution for mass shootings but there are precautions the United States can take to try to overcome the overwhelming number of mass shootings occurring. Gun Control is a major topic in the debate of how we can keep our society safer but how is what remains a mystery but we can start with altering the second amendment, and having stronger gun laws and background checks.
With the media shining so much light upon this topic, it is evident that mass murders in the United States of America are more frequent and deadly. In fact, studies have found that the USA has more mass public shootings than any other country (Christensen). These numbers have only been increasing in the past decades. This is shocking because the USA holds only 5 percent of the world’s population, but as a nation, contributes to 31 percent of mass murders (Christensen). Although these murders continue to be a rare phenomenon, weak gun laws, the need for fame, and issues with societal views are the main causes of the increase in cases.
“The more energy they have to gin up to execute their plan, the harder it will be to do so” (Newman). When “Would be shooters” are faced with a challenge they most likely don’t go through with their plan. The dedicated shooters are those who intend on finding guns and shooting people, those who have the drive. “Totally dedicated shooters” are the type of people who wont give up whether the guns are accessible to them legally or illegally. Dedicated shooters have a plan of action and intend on going through with it. These types of people likely suffer from mental illnesses. “The abnormally high level of school shootings in America is not solely a gun issue a mental health issue, or a media issue, but rather a problem caused by a combination of mental illness problems, social inequality, gun control policies, and the structure of schools”(Gupta, 2016). Structural inequalities in the United States cause stress, which lead people to turn to radical measures. Factors such as economic change, racism and social changes cause constraints on behavior. Mental health is also a leading factor to school shootings. “Metzl and MacLeish’s research shows that up to 60 percent of mass shootings in the United States since 1970 involved shooters displaying symptoms of mental illnesses—including paranoia, depression, and delusions—and the evidence suggests that
I read some comments on Jason Howertons article and people keep saying things like, “In mass shootings people generally use assault rifles”. Yes they do but have you noticed that most of the mass shooting are done by someone with a sort of mental illness. We wouldn't have that problem if at gun shops before every gun was sold they did a deep background check and a medical record check to see if that person was diagnosed with any sort of mental illness.
The argument made by Thomas P., is that the murder rate has been going up a lot the last couple years and the United States is not handling it right. Thomas P. argues that the government is trying to cover up how big of a deal the rising murder rate is. In this passage he writes, “ In 2016, there were 17,250 homicides, an increase of more than 8.5 percent from previous year.” That's a tremendous increase in homicides in just one year. In the passage he suggests that we need a new national dialogue. In this dialogue they will go more with evidence rather than blaming. Another idea of his, is that instead of trying to control drugs, poverty, culture and guns we should focus on controlling the small
”Everyone who commits a mass shooting has a mental issue”, says John Shaw. “ preventing them from getting the gun is the most important thing” (lines 9-10).