Should guns be in the hands of the mentally ill? Most states in the United States have laws to try and regulate the gun ownership for the mentally ill, but there are still states that do not enforce these kinds of laws. With these kinds of laws, they should regulate the gun ownership for the mentally ill.
Many mass shootings have occurred since the year 2000. Thirty-three mass shootings have been calculated to be exact, including the recent mass shooting of the Washington Navy Yard shooting caused by a lone gunman named Aaron Alexis (Mona Charen, “Mass shootings and our betrayal of the mentally ill”). The massacre was on September 16, 2013 where Aaron Alexis killed twelve people and wounded four. It was known after the shooting that Alexis had a history of having mental health problems, and he was never treated about it (Greg Botelho and Joe Sterling, CNN, “Navy Yard shooter ‘delusional,’ said ‘low frequency attacks’ drove him to kill”). The case of the death of John Lennon included a man that had some mental health problems named Mark David Chapman. Chapman was influenced about using guns in his childhood. He told psychiatrists, he had much dislike for his father, who he said beat his mother. Chapman fantasized about getting a gun and killing his father (Fred McGunagle, “The Man Who Killed John Lennon”). These two cases are examples of what mentally ill people can do if not treated.
There are states in the United States that have very strong laws about keeping guns away from the mentally ill. In California, people who check themselves into a hospital for psychiatric treatment can lose their privilege to buy a gun (Joseph Tanfani, “Keeping guns away from people with mental illness is a complex issue”). Stricter gun laws can make a point of how important it is to regulate the gun ownership for the mentally ill. Even major states like New York are looking for options to improve their gun laws for the mentally ill to keep the public safe. New York passed a law requiring mental health professionals to report patients they believe are potentially dangerous (Possession of a firearm by the Mentally Ill). People in all states should be cautious of people who could be potentially dangerous to them.
The mental health system in America is doing a bad job of treating mentally ill people by only treating the patients that are willingly to be at the mental health institute when there are mentally ill people outside of the mental health institute that cannot make the decision to go and get treatment. 48% of Americans blame the failure of the mental health system to identify who is a danger to others (Lydia Saad, “Americans Fault Mental Health System Most for Gun Violence”). At the National Conference on Mental Health, President Obama said, “We’ve got to do a better job recognizing mental health issues in our children, and making it easier for Americans of all ages to seek help.” According to Obama, less than 40% of people with mental illness receive treatment (Remarks by the President at National Conference on Mental Health). We need to get this percentage higher to lessen the amount of individuals who are a danger to people.
Even if a person was cured of their mental illness I would still not let that person hold a gun, because if they have a history of mental problems I would always think there is a possibility they can go back to their mental problems. According to the Gun Control Act of 1968 there are limitations for mentally ill people associated with firearms. It prohibits individuals addicted to controlled substances, those who were assigned to a mental institution or identified as dangerous, or those who receive a fact from the jury as not guilty by reason of insanity (Lawrence O. Gostin, JD, Katherine L. Record, JD, MA, “Dangerous People or Dangerous Weapons”). The Gun Control Act of 1968 shows an efficient way in contribution to not allow guns in the hands of the mentally ill, and it explains why these kinds of people are unfit to handle guns.
People on the opposing side of me may say that when the mentally ill cause crimes it is not always on purpose, however there are still negative effects from the crime they caused. Jeffrey Chan, Colin Hudson, and Trevor Parmenter, students from Sydney, Australia, reviewed 276 people presented to the New South Wales Mental Health Review Tribunal (MHRT). According to the MHRT, people who were deemed not guilty of offending by reason of mental illness were diagnosed with serious psychiatric disorders such as paranoid psychosis and schizophrenia, and have committed serious offenses including murder, intent to murder, sexual assault and physical assault (Jeffrey Chan, Royal Rehabilitation Centre, Sydney; University of Sydney, NSW, Colin Hudson, Central Sydney Area Health Service, Sydney NSW, Trevor Parmenter, Centre for Development Disability Studies; University of Sydney, NSW, “An exploratory study of crime and brain injury: Implications for mental health management”).
The audience that agrees that most people with mental illness are not violent is right; on the other hand there are still killings that are being done by the mentally ill in the world. In England and Wales, for both countries 50-70 homicides have occurred a year since 2009 having to do with people who had mental illness during the time of the murder (Violence and mental health). The homicide cases in England and Wales does not necessarily make my opposing audience wrong, but it does show that there are mentally ill people that are dangerous, and it explains what it does to the community.
My reasons for wanting to keep guns away from the mentally ill recaps why this case study is worth talking about. Going back to the Washington Navy Yard Shooting, Alexis’ father reported to the police that his son had anger management problems associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (Greg Botelho and Joe Sterling, CNN, “Navy Yard shooter ‘delusional.’ said ‘low frequency attacks’ drove him to kill”). Alexis’ doings affected the families of the twelve people that died emotionally and negatively, and we need to keep these kinds of massacres from happening. If our mental health system does not achieve their purpose of treating mentally ill people, we could be hurting our community and world around us. I believe if we find more improved ways of helping the mentally ill we can lower the violence associated with the mentally ill.






Works Cited Page #1
Charen, Mona. "Mass Shootings and Our Betrayal of the Mentally Ill." - Chicago Sun-Times. Sun-Times Media Group, 19 Sept. 2013. Web. 14 Dec. 2013.
Botelho, Greg, Greg Seaby, Bill Mears, and Leslie Bentz. "FBI: Navy Yard Shooter 'delusional,' Said 'low Frequency Attacks' Drove Him to Kill." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
Tanfani, Joseph. "Keeping Guns Away from People with Mental Illness Is a Complex Issue."Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 21 Sept. 2013. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.
"Possession of a Firearm by the Mentally Ill." Possession of a Firearm by the Mentally Ill. National Conference of State Legislatures, Jan. 2013. Web. 14 Dec. 2013.
Wilson, Reid. "State Rules Vary on Guns for the Mentally Ill." Washingtonpost.com. Katharine Weymouth, 20 Sept. 2013. Web. 14 Dec. 2013.
Gostin, Lawrence O., JD, and Katherine L. Record, JD, MA. "Dangerous People or Dangerous Weapons." Scholarship.law.georgetown.edu. N.p., 24 May 2011. Web. 14 Dec. 2013.
Saad, Lydia. "Americans Fault Mental Health System Most for Gun Violence." Americans Fault Mental Health System Most for Gun Violence. Gallup Press, 20 Sept. 2013. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.
"Time To Change." Violence and Mental Health Statistics and Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.

Works Cited Page #2
"President Obama Speaks at the National Conference on Mental Health." The White House. N.p., 3 Jan. 2013. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.
Chan, Jeffrey, Colin Hudson, and Trevor Parmenter. "An Exploratory Study of Crime and Brain Injury." Web. N.p., Apr. 2004. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.
McGunagle, Fred. "A Troubled Youth." Mark David Chapman, the Man Who Killed John Lennon — — Crime Library on TruTV.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.