When the topic of gun control comes up, it\u2019s inevitable that someone will mention mental health. They claim that guns aren\u2019t causing gun violence, but rather poor mental health care is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Never mind the fact that people with mental illness are convicted in only 1 in 20 violent crimes, that 1 in 4 people with mental illness will be a victim of a violent crime, that people with mental illness are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s never mind those facts for now. Let\u2019s assume that poor mental health care is to blame for gun violence, as people claim it is. Let\u2019s assume, poor mental health care is what causes people to shoot and kill other people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How does poor mental health care explain why a shooter targeted Latinx victims at an El Paso Walmart? How does poor mental health care explain why a shooter targeted a Pittsburgh synagogue? How does poor mental health care explain why a shooter targeted a Qu\u00e9bec City mosque? How does poor mental health care explain why a shooter targeted members of the LGBTQ+ community in an Orlando nightclub? How does poor mental health care explain why a shooter targeted people in a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic? How does poor mental health care explain why a shooter targeted black people in a Charleston church?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Depression doesn\u2019t motivate someone to shoot people based on their skin colour. Anxiety doesn\u2019t motivate someone to shoot people based on their religion. Bipolar doesn\u2019t motivate someone to shoot people based on their sexual orientation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And while there are certainly perpetrators of mass shootings who aren\u2019t motivated by xenophobia, poor mental health care doesn\u2019t explain the actions of those who are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n