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Joey Cannon

Mrs. Burr, Instructor

English 1010

26 November 2018

Guns and The Stigma: Preventing School Shootings in America

In Isla Vista, California, on May 26, 2014, a 22-year-old boy shot and killed six people.

The boy, Elliot Rodger, then proceeded to kill himself. Rodger had done this with a legally-

purchased firearm. Although no mental illness was directly attributed to his behavior, his parents

had been worried about his desire to hurt other people and his severe mental health issues

(Bramble 303). The problem seems simple: Too many people are harmed or killed due to gun

violence. The problem, however, is deeper than this. The big problem is that the country can’t

decide how to stop gun violence. In Rodger’s situation he was easily able to access a gun, but he

was never mentally healthy.

Currently, the country focuses on gun control concerning the mentally ill. Lindsay

Bramble writes, “This shifting focus from gun control to the mental health system is both

warranted and justifiable for multiple reasons” (305). However, Bramble also states, “Our focus

as a nation should first and foremost be on increasing funding on public awareness of mental

health… Only then will gun legislation aimed at the mentally ill become workable and

enforceable” (307). Bramble believes the country should focus on public awareness of mental

illness. She believes helping people recognize and understand the mentally ill better will help

control those who suffer from an illness. According to Bramble, mental illness should be the

focus. On the other hand, Tim Goral, in his article “A rational approach to ending gun violence”

argues, “this has to do with access to guns… In terms of universal background checks, we all
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know there are so many loopholes… where people who really shouldn’t have access to guns can

get them” (14). Goral knows that guns are dangerous in the wrong hands and believes that the

country needs to focus on keeping guns out of the hands of these people. There seems to be two

factors concerning gun violence, and the country as a whole seems to be split on whether it’s a

people problem, or a gun problem. Preventing gun violence, will not happen in one day, but if

the country puts more of an effort towards treating the mentally ill and gun control together,

rather than gun control on its own, then progress can be made. This can be accomplished through

turning the focus more towards mental health, increasing the budget for organizations who

support mental health, spreading public knowledge regarding mental illness, and providing more

help to those who are mentally ill. In an Editorial titled “Trauma, Violence and Stigma: What

Can We Do?”, Evelyn Parrish reveals, “To date there have been 341 mass shootings in the

United States: 445 dead and 1,281 injured” (233). Gun violence only seems to get more

prevalent in the country so action needs to be taken. 445 people dead from gun violence is 445

too many.

Gun violence receives a lot of different opinions. A lot of people in the country believe

that the focus should be on gun control. Other people believe the focus should be on mental

health. Although the best solution to this issue would be a compromise between gun control and

mental health, in the United States, there is too much of a focus on gun control, and not enough

of a focus on helping those who are mentally ill. RoseAnn Demoro, the Executive Director of

National Nurses United, concurs, “new curbs on military-style weaponry such as semiautomatic

assault rifles and high-capacity clips are only part of what is needed to stem the violence” (13).

It’s clear that gun control shouldn’t be the priority, but should merely accompany an effort to

fight mental illness.

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Demoro explains that in order to make progress against gun violence, the country needs

to prioritize an effort against mental illness. Programs that have supported mental health in the

past have been taking budget cuts and haven’t been able to financially support the mentally ill.

DeMoro writes, “NNU has repeatedly pushed for restoration of cut funds to mental health

programs in the private sector and increased funding for public programs, clinics and hospitals”

(13). NNU, National Nurses United, understands that mental health is a major factor in gun

violence and believes that health institutions need to have a larger budget to support those that

are mentally ill. Shifting focus towards treating and raising public awareness of mental health

brings its own troubles.

According to DeMoro, the country needs to completely change the healthcare system.

The current system is based off of profits and a patient’s ability to pay, when the system should

be focusing more on the needs of a patient (13). Mentally ill patients should be prioritized over

almost every other patient as these patients are not only endangering themselves, but they could

possibly be endangering others. These people that suffer from mental illness need more health

care for their treatment. A reorganization of the healthcare system can provide the financial help

these people need and it can help control the possibility of the mentally ill causing harm to

others.

Mental illness should not be an afterthought. In the year 2016, there was a terrible

shooting that took place in Florida. The shooting was at a nightclub and it left 49 people dead

and 50 wounded. Psychologically much more damage was done, and may not ever be repaired.

People from all across the world, whether they were directly involved in the event, were close to

somebody involved, or just heard about the shooting, were affected. This catastrophic event was

carried out by someone who was mentally ill (Huprich 447). This individual, Omar Mateen,
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although mentally ill, did not receive proper treatment. Had family members and friends of

Mateen known more about mental illness, he could have received more treatment for his illness.

Increasing public knowledge regarding mental health is a problem in itself. How does the

country increase what people know about mental illness? Steven Huprich, an editor from the

Journal of Personality Assessment has expressed his opinions on this matter:

“mental health professionals, especially personality assessment psychologists, need to

communicate publically about what we know about personality, psychopathology, and

how they are related. We need to talk openly about assessment and what it offers to

society and its members. We can share our knowledge of the therapeutic benefits of

assessment and how putting assessment at the front edge of mental health care and

treatment might prevent such actions from happening again. This information can and

should be shared not only with the lay public, but also with policymakers and lawmakers.

In other words, we need to educate people about the ways in which personality pathology

affects society, sometimes in particularly violent ways.”

Understanding that those who are mental health professionals know all about personality

disorders, Huprich calls these people into action. This information should be widespread, public

knowledge. As public knowledge increases, more support, financially and emotionally, will be

provided for those that are mentally ill. This could be a huge step towards ending gun violence.

Omar Mateen’s family and friends could have benefitted from this. If mental health professionals

had done a better job at publicizing what they know about mental illness, and mental disorders,

Mateen would have had more treatment and help from others.

Mental health is an epidemic in the United States. Few people understand how many

people are affected by mental illness or a mental disorder in the United States (see fig. 1). There
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is more that the country can do to work against mental illness and help to treat it. Another thing

the country can do to is to increase the amount of help in schools. Demoro believes, “The [NRA]

proposal for armed police officers in every school is not the solution. Columbine High School in

Colorado… had two armed guards… What would be far more effective would be to boost the

number of school counselors.”(13).

Fig. 1 “Mental Health Matters.” Graphic showing how many people in the United States are

affected by mental illness.

School’s can play a major part in a child’s mental health and the education system needs

to prioritize for positive influences on the child. Better teacher evaluations and more counselors

are two ways that the school can maintain positive influences on children.

One this is certain, the only way to make progress against this issue and decrease the

amount of gun violence is to work together against mental illness. Steven K. Huprich states,
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“recognize that there is power in numbers. Imagine, for instance, professional societies forming

task forces”(448). He encourages people to form groups and make an effort against mental

illness. Whether the group helps support financially, helps by spreading knowledge about mental

illness, or physically helps patients, it will help in the effort.

Gun violence is a serious concern in the United States. Mental health is also a serious

concern. The two happened to be related and that tells the country something. More effort needs

to be put towards treating the mentally ill. The country is currently focused on gun laws in order

to prevent gun violence, but the country should be focused on mental illness. First,

Understanding of mental illness needs to be common knowledge. This can be done many ways,

but Huprich proposed, “journal editors in the mental health arena to urge their readers, editorial

boards, and respective societies to consider writing similar editorials” (448). Papers and articles

can help spread common knowledge and understanding. Next, institutions and organizations

supporting research and treatment of mental health need more support financially. Currently, the

country’s healthcare system is poorly run. The healthcare system needs to focus more on

patients’ needs instead of how much that can be earned from a certain patient. The mental health

department deserves a larger budget due to its importance in today’s society. Finally, citizens of

the country should be doing all they can to help the mentally ill. Volunteering to help an

organization is a great way that people can assist in the efforts against mental illness. They can

form their own groups to make an effort. Likewise, schools need to play their part. More

counselors in school is one of many ways to make a difference in this cause.

Mental illness should not be taken lightly. Bramble talks about four different cases of gun

violence, where people were killed, that was carried out by a person with some sort of mental

illness. The mentally ill are unpredictable and need to be treated. Not only do the mentally ill
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cause harm to themselves, but sometimes, to others. If the country puts in the effort and assists in

every way possible, then progress can be made.

Works Cited

Bramble, Lindsay. “Putting a Band-Aid on a Bullet Wound: Why Gun Legislation

Targeting Individuals with Mental Illness Isn’t Working.” Journal of Health Care Law &

Policy, vol. 17, no. 2, Sept. 2014, pp. 303–327. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=97591493&site=ehost-live.

DeMoro, Rose Ann. “Not Enough Any Public Policy Solution to Gun Violence Must Also
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Prioritize Full Access to Mental Healthcare for All.” National Nurse, vol. 109, no. 1, Jan.

2013, pp. 13–19. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=85928304&site=ehost-live.

Goral, Tim. “A Rational Approach to Ending Gun Violence.” District Administration, vol. 54,

no.

6, June 2018, pp. 14–16. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=129776081&site=ehost-live.

Huprich, Steven K. “Psychologists Should Help Curb the Wave of U. S. Gun Violence.” Journal

of Personality Assessment, vol. 98, no. 5, Sept. 2016, pp. 447–448. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1080/00223891.2016.1204832.

Parrish, Evelyn. “Trauma, Violence, and Stigma: What Can We Do?” Perspectives in

Psychiatric

Care, vol. 52, no. 4, Oct. 2016, p. 233. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/ppc.12193.

“Why Mental Health Matters.” Mental Health America of the Heartland. Web. 3 Dec. 2018.