The debate around gun violence has been reignited once again following the recent shooting in Allen, Texas, that left nine people dead, including the shooter. This tragedy has resulted in a heated discussion between Democrats and Republicans regarding mental health, gun laws, and the correlation between the two.
The tragedy has raised questions regarding the prevalence of mental health issues in the United States, and if more attention should be paid to this issue. “We are releasing the humanity, we are taking it away and it makes it so easy to handle this,” said Sara Haines, a co-host of The View. “So the stat you had, I also had on my card — where as we can say, ‘okay, there’s a mental health component, there’s something not right. We’re lonely. Something’s happening to people, but it’s hard to say there’s a solution as easy as what does that look like on the ground.”
Ana Navarro pointed out that people all over the world suffer from mental health issues, but the US is the only country with a mass shooting “epidemic.” “The only place where we have an epidemic of war-style weapons is in America and it’s where we have an epidemic of mass shootings,” she said.
Sunny Hostin then shifted the conversation to Republicans, accusing them of addressing mental health issues but opposing bans on firearms. “People that have mental health issues are much more likely to be the victims of crime than commit crime,” she said. “I hear Republicans want to talk about everything else other than easy access to guns. They want to talk about undocumented people, they want to talk about immigration, they want to talk about mental health, they want to talk about everything under the sun but they don’t want to talk about the guns. The guns are the problem.”
The conversation around mental health and gun violence has sparked a debate over whether or not Democrats are trying to ban guns from lawful gun owners. According to FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, approximately 25% of mass shooters have suffered from mental illness. But does this mean Democrats are trying to remove guns from law-abiding citizens?
The answer is no. Most Democrats are not trying to take away guns from law-abiding citizens, but are instead working to pass laws that will help protect citizens from mass shootings. This includes enacting universal background checks, closing loopholes that allow people to buy guns without a background check, banning the sale of military-style assault weapons and high capacity magazines, and investing in mental health services.
The reality is, individual gun owners have a responsibility to ensure that their firearms are used safely and responsibly. This means storing them in a secure location, properly teaching children and others how to safely handle firearms, and never allowing firearms to fall into the wrong hands.
It’s important to remember that the Second Amendment gives citizens the right to bear arms. However, with this right comes a responsibility to use firearms responsibly and safely. While the debate between Democrats and Republicans on gun control will continue, it is important to remember that both sides can come together to ensure that mental health issues and gun violence are addressed in a way that will protect the safety of citizens.