A. Whalen
In several public opinion polls, “failures of the mental health system” are pointed as the main culprit for mass shootings.* This idea leads to pushes for increased background checks for individuals previously diagnosed with mental illness, and increased treatment for the mentally ill. Although the proposed solutions would reduce casualties, they will not prevent the 78% of shooters who are undiagnosed from accessing weapons.
Michael Stone, a psychiatrist at Columbia University who maintains a database of mass shooters, collected data demonstrating that only 22% of people who carried out mass shootings were previously diagnosed as mentally ill.** Out of the 235 killers in Stone’s database, which dates back to the 70s, only 52 were diagnosed with mental illness. Although many shooters may have been living with undiagnosed mental illnesses, the numbers demonstrate that increased background checks cannot be the only part of the solution. By only increasing background checks and treatment for those diagnosed with mental illness, one only prevents a small portion of the mass shootings that occur. Arguing that these solutions are the most immediate ways to prevent a significant portion of shootings that occur is valid, but we should seek out better solutions that also prevent the other 78% of mass shootings.
By focusing media attention on shooters with mental illnesses, we are misplacing our attention. We need to focus on how to create effective solutions to prevent all mass shootings, including the 78% that undiagnosed shooters carry out. Mental illness is a part of the problem, but we should also reevaluate the governmental systems that allow any shootings to occur, and not be distracted by the common misconception that mental illness is all to blame. We should try to help diagnose untreated mental illness to prevent the tragedies that result, but if we want to prevent more than 22% of these tragedies, we must take away the weapons that enable them.
* Texas Politics Project, Factors most to Blame for Mass Shootings
** “Mass Murder, Mental Illness, and Men” by Michael Stone, Violence and Gender, 2015
