Guns and Mental Health - Priority No 1?

Like most people, I have been hearing all the talk about mental health and gun violence. Intuitively it makes sense, and several of the larger losses of life lately have been at the hands of ill people. But an article I just read makes me wonder if that is really what we should be talking about exclusively.

In this article, author Paul Mountjoy discusses the actual break-down of the number of people who are a threat to the general populous, and it turns out the mentally ill with guns are not at the top of the list. Yes, as mentioned above there have been several tragedies invoking these people, and those are horrific and inexcusable. But let's liken this to people dying in crashes. Plane crashes always make the news because of the loss in a single event, but the number of people killed on the highways far outstrips the number in planes crashes. The car crashes just don't all make the news.

The fact of the matter is very few people suffering from mental illness own guns, and even fewer actual use them to commit crimes. A Columbia University study places the number at 4% of crime is caused by mental illness. It is much more likely for someone suffering from mental illness to be the victim of a crime than the perpetrator.

The mental disorders most associated with gun related violence against others are schizophrenia, Anti-Social Personality Disorder (ASPD), and untreated Bipolar Disorder (BPD). Mental health statistics indicate that in the United States, there are approximately 1,300,000 individuals who fall into those categories (of which a very small number will ever commit a gun crime).

By comparison, DoJ numbers place the number of people currently incarcerated is 2.3 million, and another 5 million are on parole. Every year 2.22 million people are convicted of violent crimes, of which 1.2 million use guns. 67% of homicides use guns, but less than 1% use "assault rifles". And somewhere around 25% of the people jailed or on probation/parole committed drug offense.

So, let's summarize. The current media frenzy talks about mental illness and assault weapons. But the mentally ill people most likely to commit a violent crime make up just 4% of society, a small percentage of these will be involved in any crime and even then they are more likely to be the victim than the perp. And the dreaded assault weapons are used in 1% of all homicides.

But on the other hand there are 7.5 million people (5 times as many as there are mentally ill) currently convicted of crimes, 1/3 of those committed VIOLENT crimes already and 25% of the total are known to be involved with drugs.

What's the answer? Well, let's keep guns out of the hands of all these people, mentally ill or criminal. Since none of them have signs around their necks saying "I will commit a violent crime" or "I will not commit a crime", we have to play it safe.

But let's not dislocate our shoulders by patting ourselves on the back because we got this "Guns and Mental Illness" problem under control. It's a problem, yes. But let's remember that a violent crime is MUCH MORE LIKELY to be committed by a repeat violent offender than a mentally ill person. So we should be putting much more emphasis on making sure these convicted criminals do not get guns by whatever means we can.

I would bet every one of them knows they will not be able to pass a background check, so they aren't likely to try to buy one in any scenario where a check will be done. They buy them out of the trunks of cars on the streets, or steal them from relatives. Or are just GIVEN the gun by someone else they know. THESE are the places we need to come down hard on in enforcement.

Just keep passing the same laws - It worked the first time, didn't it?

Today the Senate Judiciary Committee voted and passed a bill that does absolutely nothing to make anyone more secure, and whose only purpose is to make penalties for already illegal activity so high it will make ordinary gun owners think twice about buying or selling firearms. The bill was approved in an 11-7 vote largely along party lines. Sen. Charles Grassley (Iowa), the senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee, was the only GOP lawmaker to vote yes.

 Sen. Charles Grassley (Iowa)

Excerpt for The Hill:

The Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act sponsored by Leahy would stiffen penalties for trafficking, increasing jail terms in some cases up to 25 years. It would cover sellers and purchasers involved in illegal transactions and would lower the threshold for determining the criminal intent of the parties involved.

Grassley agreed to back the measure after Leahy agreed to an amendment to prohibit the Department of Justice (DOJ) from conducting gun-walking operations such as “Fast and Furious,” an operation that may have resulted in the death of a U.S. border patrol agent.

Under the Grassley amendment, the DOJ could engage in similar sting operations only if the attorney general, deputy attorney general or head of the criminal division personally approves them after determining sufficient safeguards are in place.

The bill also strengthens the law prohibiting material false statements in connection with purchasing a firearm and increases penalties for purchasing a gun with intent to transfer it to someone involved in a violent crime or drug trafficking.

It would also outlaw illegal purchasers of firearms from smuggling weapons out of the country.

So, exactly what part of this law actually helps PREVENT gun violence? Doesn't it seem kind of counter-productive to raise  penalties on laws that the FBI chooses not to strictly enforce in the first place? In 2010 the NICS did almost 14.5 million background checks. Of those, 72,659 were denied (about 1/2 of 1%). Of those, 62 were prosecuted and 13 convicted. So even though lying on the 4473 form is a federal offense, our Justice Department managed to get a .01% (1/100th of a percent) conviction rate on crimes that were identified by the FBI themselves.

Hold your legislators responsible. Stop allowing them to pass the buck on these shoddy bills. I know everyone wants less gun violence, and no politician wants to back legislation that could actually be politically painful. But let's all agree to stop letting them think they are fooling us by claiming to be making things better by passing useless bills.