As human beings, we often look for a person, thing, or phenomenon to blame when horrific events occur. In the case of the very recent and various mass shooting in the United States, we immediately looked to place blame on such horrific events.

As a nation, we immediately began to place blame on the individual shooter’s mental state. Referring to one’s mental state as “impaired”, “out of the norm”, and “othered”. Every time a mass shooting or an incident involving a use of a gun occurs in the United States, we automatically look towards mental illnesses as the answer to this complicated question of “How can something like this happen?”

It is time that we stop looking to place blame on mental incapacities and look towards fixing the legalities on guns within our own governmental systems and institutions. It isn’t the state of mental capability that causes this, it is the inability for our government and its constituents to place the blame on the lack of effective gun control and gun protection policies being enforced within our country.

To what extent will this constant notification of mass shootings in this country last for until we begin to notice the problem being embedded within practices within the institutions rather than within the individual’s mental capabilities? How many people will die at the hands of a gun before we open our eyes? How many lives will be disrupted at the hand of a gun before we decide to change our policies and hold our policymakers accountable?

Before we look to place blame on the mental capacity of an individual, how about we look to further prevent such actions by lobbying and pressuring ourselves and our government officials to work towards creating more effective gun policy legislation to move our country into the path which will encourage and curate lives of prosperity and safety.