The big lie that always follows mass shootings by white males

Quote:


We do have statistics showing that the vast majority of people who commit acts of violence do not have a diagnosis of mental illness and, conversely, people who have mental illness are far more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators.

The real issue is mental illness” is a goddamn cop-out. I almost never hear it from actual mental health professionals, or advocates working in the mental health sphere, or anyone who actually has any kind of informed opinion on mental health or serious policy proposals for how to improve our treatment of the mentally ill in this country.


the NRA tells us that creating a national registry of firearms owners would be giving the government dangerously unchecked tyrannical power, but a national registry of the mentally ill would not — even though a “sane” person holding a gun is intrinsically more dangerous than a “crazy” person, no matter how crazy, without a gun.

Quote:

Fact 1: The vast majority of people with mental illness are not violent.

Fact 2: The public is misinformed about the link between mental illness and violence.

Fact 3: Inaccurate beliefs about mental illness and violence lead to widespread stigma and discrimination:

Fact 4: The link between mental illness and violence is promoted by the entertainment and news media.

@white_swan53 Said

It’s not about mental illness:





https://www.salon.com/2015/06/18/its_not_about_mental_illness_the_big_lie_that_always_follows_mass_shootings_by_white_males/



While it is very easy for the public to believe that someone is crazy when they have walked up to or in to some place and opened fire on innocent people who have no previouse or persoanl connection to the shooter . And the media doesn't waste a minute in rushing to publish screaming headlines about the mental illness that the shooter must be suffering ,from every time there is a mass shooting .
But what we the public don't know is that ,,,,



Facts About Mental Illness and Violence



A 2013 Pew Research Center poll found that 85 percent of Americans support background checks for private gun sales, 80 percent support preventing people with mental illness from purchasing guns, 67 percent support the creation of a federal database to track gun sales, 58% percent supported a ban on semi-automatic weapons, and 54 percent support a ban on the sale of assault-style weapons. Pew also found that 74 percent of households with NRA members support background checks for private gun sales.



What can be done to break the strangle hold that groups like the NRA have on our lawmakers.

It's really very sad when innocent people who have the misfortune of becoming a victim of someone that hates them because of their race or their beliefs . Or doesn't hate them for any reason at all . They just happen to be a part of the nearest group of targets .

What makes it all even worse then sad , is when those lawmakers that get up and offer their heartfelt prayers and condolences to the families ot he victims and the community ,while their pockets are bulging full of the NRA 's cash . The cash is to insure that our law makers won't rock the boat , won't change the weak gun laws that allow felons and domestic abusers and mass shooters to arm themselves.

@DiscordTiger Said

Have you ever tried to get help for someone having mental Heath issues?
It's expensive and not covered well under most health plans. Also you can't force anyone to get help until after they are danger to themselves and others.

It's like saying people are physically healthy when it's just they have never gone to a dr and don't know what things like their blood pressure, blood work etc really are.
They might be, they might just be a ticking time bomb.

@Commander4th Said

I fail to see what any of this has to do with white male's?

@white_swan53 Said

Yes I have tried to get mental health help for someone. The wall I ran into was the person was over 18 years old and didn't think he needed help. It was my oldest son , less then 6 months after trying to get him some help , he was picked up and put in jail , for walking into some ladies home ,sitting down on her sofa and asking for a glass of tea . Now the only problem with that was , the lady hadn't invited him in, and she had never laid eyes on him before she found him sitting on her sofa making himself to home. The lady and the cops said he was very polite and he was very confused about why he didn't get his tea .
He was diagnosed Bi Polar before the week was out.
It was a journey though hell for the next year or so until the doctors got his cocktail of meds right and he leveled out .
So yes I'm very familiar with mental health issues and the expense and problems that comes with dealing with and treating those issues.

I couldn't imagine what went though that ladies mind when she walked into her living room and found a complete stranger with obveiose mental health problems sitting there asking , as nice as you please , for a glass of tea.
But thank the powers that be, he wasn't then and hasn't since, become a violent person .

@Commander4th Said

I fail to see what any of this has to do with white male's?

@DiscordTiger Said

Yeah our neighbors and close friends of the family had that problems. One was weird until the day he tried to kill someone.

It was scary for everyone, especially his mom who was trying to help and kept getting stopped because "it wasn't enough".

And some non mentally Ill people are just violent a*****es. So I don't know that screening for mental health at gun purchase points will be a good answer.

It's like we don't know enough information and are too scared to go looking for more.
The cdc was willing to research it, congress won't let them.

@chaski Said

I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the people who commit violent crimes in general and in particular things like either serial murders, mass murders, or just "normal" murder with firearms fall into one of five categories...

1. Mentally ill people.
2. People that are "temporarily" mentally ill.
3. Religious extremists, who are also mentally ill.
4. Political extremists, some of whom are also mentally ill.
5. People motivated by organized crime...who are probably, ultimately, mentally ill.

But, I could be wrong.

Quote:
We’ve successfully created a world so topsy-turvy that seeking medical help for depression or anxiety is apparently stronger evidence of violent tendencies than going out and purchasing a weapon whose only purpose is committing acts of violence


What’s also interesting is the way “The real issue is mental illness” is deployed against mass murderers the way it’s deployed in general — as a way to discredit their own words. When you call someone “mentally ill” in this culture it’s a way to admonish people not to listen to them, to ignore anything they say about their own actions and motivations, to give yourself the authority to say you know them better than they know themselves.

This is cruel, ignorant bulls*** when it’s used to discredit people who are the victims of crimes. It is, in fact, one major factor behind the fact that the mentally ill are far more likely to be the targets of violence than the perpetrators–every predator loves a victim who won’t be allowed to speak in their own defense.

@white_swan53 Said

If it could be done that when doing a back ground check and the person being checked had at sometime in the past been dianosed with a mental illness and is taking meds it could show just that they were diagnosed and on meds , no details , just that info .
We have to draw the line some where and on the topic of mass shootings if having the info that some one has been diagnosed would save 4 or more lives at a time . That seems like a good place to draw that line . IMO
I am saying that the only time that info would pop up is when someone who has been diagnosed is trying to buy a fire arm
But, as long as the NRA is in control , nothing the American people think say or do will bear friut .