This week’s shooting on UCLA’s college campus resulted in a death toll of two and an investigation searching for answers. Another result of this gun crime is the continuation of the debate on whether the United States should pass stricter gun laws to prevent future incidents from happening.
It’s easy to point the blame on the weapon used to carry out the crime. It’s a very simple solution to just call for a ban on all guns, believing this is will end the apparent increase of mass shootings on campuses across America.
On the contrary, I could mention that 150 universities in the United States allow concealed carry and none of those said campuses have had a single crime involving gun violence in the past 20 years. I could also mention that the National Academy of Sciences and the Harvard Injury Control Research Center both conducted studies which concluded that there is no evidence of correlation between licensed concealed carry and an increase in gun violence or gun-related deaths.
But I believe the real issue has nothing to do with our gun laws. I believe the growth of violence is caused from the lack of proper care for those with mental illnesses.
For example, it’s estimated that 216,000 homeless people are living with a mental illness. Since the decrease in asylums, shelters and other homes for those with serious mental illnesses, those who need professional help but cannot afford it or aren’t considered “serious enough” to be given government help are left in a difficult situation.
There are also laws put into place that don’t allow families to intervene with legal adults (those of the age 18 and older) to get them the help they need unless they are given court-mandated permission. Even though someone can have an extremely serious mental health issue that can debilitate their reasoning, families have to fight to get their loved ones the help they deserve.
The stigma behind mental illnesses can cause people to mask their symptoms instead of asking for help. Some families ignore major red flags with their loved ones because they too believe the stigmas behind mental illness.
There are even people who sneer at the judicial system when they declare that the person being prosecuted has a mental disorder instead of finding them guilty. Most people don't realize how common it is for those with mental disorders to not be given proper care.
People don’t realize that, when treated properly, people with mental disorders can maintain having a job, going to school, and keeping successful relationships with peers.
Of those with mental illnesses, about 3.9 million of them go untreated every year in the US. Fifty-one percent of those with schizophrenia aren’t treated; 13,000 people with mental illnesses commit suicide yearly, and those with untreated mental illnesses commit about 50 percent of mass killings in America.
I am not saying that the UCLA shooter was mentally ill, or that every time there is a mass murder, it is committed by someone with a mental illness. And I am definitely not saying that people who have mental illnesses are dangerous because of their disorder.
I just believe that those who have diseases that can be maintained through either therapy and medicine or both should be given the treatments they need, and those who need extra assistance should be given the shelter, protection and care they need. And everyone should be properly educated on the topic of mental illness so they can notice symptoms sooner and seek help without shame or fear.
If the government stopped turning tragedies such as the UCLA shooting into a method of pushing a political agenda down U.S. citizens' throats and instead focused on helping those who are crying for help but aren’t getting it, I really believe the number of "gun violence problems" would dwindle in years to come.
