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by GSD Admin on 15 January 2013 - 00:01
In Gun Debate, a Misguided Focus on Mental Illness
By RICHARD A. FRIEDMAN, M.D.
Published: December 17, 2012
In the wake of the terrible shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., national attention has turned again to the complex links between violence, mental illness and gun control.
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Jim Lo Scalzo/European Pressphoto Agency
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The gunman, Adam Lanza, 20, has been described as a loner who was intelligent and socially awkward. And while no official diagnosis has been made public, armchair diagnosticians have been quick to assert that keeping guns from getting into the hands of people with mental illness would help solve the problem of gun homicides.
Arguing against stricter gun-control measures, Representative Mike Rogers, Republican of Michigan and a former F.B.I. agent, said, “What the more realistic discussion is, ‘How do we target people with mental illness who use firearms?’ ”
Robert A. Levy, chairman of the Cato Institute, told The New York Times: “To reduce the risk of multivictim violence, we would be better advised to focus on early detection and treatment of mental illness.”
But there is overwhelming epidemiological evidence that the vast majority of people with psychiatric disorders do not commit violent acts. Only about 4 percent of violence in the United States can be attributed to people with mental illness.
This does not mean that mental illness is not a risk factor for violence. It is, but the risk is actually small. Only certain serious psychiatric illnesses are linked to an increased risk of violence.
One of the largest studies, the National Institute of Mental Health’s Epidemiologic Catchment Area study, which followed nearly 18,000 subjects, found that the lifetime prevalence of violence among people with serious mental illness — like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder — was 16 percent, compared with 7 percent among people without any mental disorder. Anxiety disorders, in contrast, do not seem to increase the risk at all.
Alcohol and drug abuse are far more likely to result in violent behavior than mental illness by itself. In the National Institute of Mental Health’s E.C.A. study, for example, people with no mental disorder who abused alcohol or drugs were nearly seven times as likely as those without substance abuse to commit violent acts.
It’s possible that preventing people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other serious mental illnesses from getting guns might decrease the risk of mass killings. Even the Supreme Court, which in 2008 strongly affirmed a broad right to bear arms, at the same time endorsed prohibitions on gun ownership “by felons and the mentally ill.”
But mass killings are very rare events, and because people with mental illness contribute so little to overall violence, these measures would have little impact on everyday firearm-related killings. Consider that between 2001 and 2010, there were nearly 120,000 gun-related homicides, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Few were perpetrated by people with mental illness.
Perhaps more significant, we are not very good at predicting who is likely to be dangerous in the future. According to Dr. Michael Stone, professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia and an expert on mass murderers, “Most of these killers are young men who are not floridly psychotic. They tend to be paranoid loners who hold a grudge and are full of rage.”
Even though we know from large-scale epidemiologic studies like the E.C.A. study that a young psychotic male who is intoxicated with alcohol and has a history of involuntary commitment is at a high risk of violence, most individuals who fit this profile are harmless.
Jeffrey Swanson, a professor of psychiatry at Duke University and a leading expert in the epidemiology of violence, said in an e-mail, “Can we reliably predict violence? ‘No’ is the short answer. Psychiatrists, using clinical judgment, are not much better than chance at predicting which individual patients will do something violent and which will not.”
It would be even harder to predict a mass shooting, Dr. Swanson said, “You can profile the perpetrators after the fact and you’ll get a description of troubled young men, which also matches the description of thousands of other troubled young men who would never do something like this.”
Even if clinicians could predict violence perfectly, keeping guns from people with mental illness is easier said than done. Nearly five years after Congress enacted the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, only about half of the states have submitted more than a tiny proportion of their mental health records.
How effective are laws that prohibit people with mental illness from obtaining guns? According to Dr. Swanson’s recent research, these measures may prevent some violent crime. But, he added, “there are a lot of people who are undeterred by these laws.”
Adam Lanza was prohibited from purchasing a gun, because he was too young. Yet he managed to get his hands on guns — his mother’s — anyway. If we really want to stop young men like him from becoming mass murderers, and prevent the small amount of violence attributable to mental illness, we should invest our resources in better screening for, and treatment of, psychiatric illness in young people.
All the focus on the small number of people with mental illness who are violent serves to make us feel safer by displacing and limiting the threat of violence to a small, well-defined group. But the sad and frightening truth is that the vast majority of homicides are carried out by outwardly normal people in the grip of all too ordinary human aggression to whom we provide nearly unfettered access to deadly force.
by Two Moons on 15 January 2013 - 00:01
The second amendment thread is still messed up.
by GSD Admin on 15 January 2013 - 00:01
Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden joined leaders of the mid-Atlantic state on Monday in announcing new gun measures while his father, Democratic Vice President Joe Biden, was preparing national gun control proposals.
The announcements from the two states exposed a widening divide over gun control between states with Democratic majorities and large urban areas, particularly along the east coast, and more rural states, many of which are represented by Republicans.
"Military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips designed for battle have no place on our streets," said Beau Biden, echoing comments made by his father since a gunman killed 20 children and six adults in a school in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14.
The Delaware proposals are due to be introduced in the legislature in the next two weeks.
Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, who is often discussed as a possible 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, said on Monday that he would propose later this week a tighter ban on assault weapons and on certain types of ammunition magazines.
"Perhaps there is no way to completely prevent the next Newtown tragedy," he said. "But then again, perhaps there is."
O'Malley said he also would call for the licensing of handguns in the state.
Gun control has been at the center of U.S. politics, once again, since the December 14 massacre in Newtown.
The gunman, Adam Lanza, 20, used a military-style AR-15 rifle that he had taken from his mother's home. He shot and killed himself after the rampage inside the school. This type of gun was not covered by Connecticut's existing assault weapons ban.
Before the December shooting only California, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Maryland, plus the District of Columbia, had some form of ban on assault weapons.
Since the shooting the governors of Connecticut, New York and now Maryland have announced that they will try to tighten those controls. Delaware would become the eighth state to ban assault weapons if the proposed law is passed.
Some big city mayors, led by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have joined the drive for tougher gun control.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced on Monday that he had ordered a review of pension and retirement funds for city employees as a first step toward divesting stock of companies that make or sell assault weapons.
The second largest U.S. pension fund, the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS), decided last week to sell its investments in manufacturers of firearms that are banned in California, like the assault rifle used in Newtown.
Calls for action in states near Connecticut, as well as California and some big cities, contrast with the muted response in other parts of the country.
Many states have either been silent on gun control or are focusing on security at schools and mental health initiatives in response to the Connecticut shooting.
In Mississippi, for example, Republican Lieutenant Governor Tate Reeves has proposed creating a fund to help schools hire certified law enforcement officers as guards. He also wants Mississippi courts to report cases of mental illness to the Federal Bureau of Investigation so that people with a history of mental illness can be prevented from purchasing guns.
by GSD Admin on 15 January 2013 - 09:01
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/14/cuomo-new-york-guns/1833271
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York came one step closer to enacting tougher gun laws on Monday, with the state Senate approving a set of broad changes in a late-night Monday vote and the Assembly expected to act early Tuesday.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled his proposal to bolster the state's gun laws late Monday after weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations with legislative leaders, with a full ban on assault weapons slated to take effect as soon as it is passed.
The Senate passed Cuomo's bill in a 43-18 vote around 11 p.m. Monday. The Assembly is set to take up the legislation when it returns to session at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Cuomo's bill — named the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, or NY SAFE — would enact a number of new measures, including a ban of all magazines that hold more than seven rounds and universal background checks for all gun sales, regardless if they are private, person-to-person sales.
The bill, Cuomo said, also includes a "Webster provision" — a life-without-parole prison sentence for anyone who murders a first responder. The provision was included as a response to a Christmas Eve shooting in the Monroe County, N.Y., town in which two firefighters were shot and killed while responding to a blaze.
If passed by the Assembly, New York would become the first state to pass tougher gun laws after the Dec. 14 massacre in Newtown, Conn.
"It is comprehensive. It is sound," Cuomo told reporters late Monday. "It addresses the multifaceted problem that we're dealing with. It protects, I believe, hunters and sportsmen, et cetera, and legitimate gun owners."
The bill also includes several provisions pushed for by Senate Republicans, who have expressed a reluctance to bolstering New York's current assault weapons ban. Among them are a new felony for carrying a firearm on school grounds, as well as provisions allowing pistol-permit holders to request that their personal information be guarded from open-records requests.
The latter provision appears to be in direct response to The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News' decision to publish a map of pistol-permit holders in Westchester and Rockland counties, which has received significant criticism from Second Amendment advocates. If a permit holder requests privacy, county officials would be able to decide whether it should be granted.
A permit holder or applicant would be able to request privacy for a number of reasons, such as the person being a police officer or if they feel their "safety may be endangered by disclosure." Licensing officials, in most cases at the county level, would be able to decide whether the exception should be granted.
Handgun permits are currently public under state law.
"We're not looking to demonize gun owners," Cuomo said. "Gun owners have done nothing wrong."
After spending more than three hours in conference behind closed doors Monday afternoon, Senate Republicans emerged and signaled a deal was imminent.
"The conference is reviewing a number of options, and it looks like there will be a vote sometime today," said Sen. Michael Nozzolio, a Republican from Fayette, N.Y., in Seneca County.
Cuomo's bill, which was formally proposed after 8 p.m., also makes changes to laws regarding the mentally ill. If a mental-health professional decides someone is a potential risk to others or themselves, they would be required to alert the authorities, who would have the ability to confiscate any firearms that person may own.
Assault weapons -- defined as any rifle with a "military style" feature, such as a bayonet or a telescoping stock -- that are currently owned would be grandfathered and would have to be registered with the state. Magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds and manufactured before 1994, which are currently legal, would have to be turned over to authorities or sold out of state within one year. If a magazine has a capacity between eight and 10, it would have to be retrofitted to only hold seven rounds.
Under Cuomo's plan, the state would have one year to set up an instant background check system for all ammunition purchases. Law enforcement would be alerted to large purchases of ammunition.
Cuomo and lawmakers have been in talks over the state's gun laws since the Dec. 14 massacre in Newtown, Conn. If the vote passes the Assembly, New York would be the first state to pass tighter firearm restrictions since the shooting.
Some Republicans in both the Senate and Assembly warned against moving too quickly.
Sen. Thomas O'Mara, R-Big Flats in Chemung County, cautioned against a vote simply so New York and Cuomo can claim the mantle of being the first in the nation to adopt tougher gun laws.
"It's certainly very frustrating, but the governor has made this his priority issue and I think the No. 1 concern of his is to get it done first, before anybody else does anything," O'Mara said. "When we're dealing with issues of Second Amendment concern or any constitutional concern, we should be taking a greater and more thorough look at it with the opportunity for discussion amongst all interested parties."
Cuomo said he would waive a mandatory three-day aging period for new bills if the Legislature puts the gun measures to a vote. The reason, he said, was in part to give the bill the best chance of passing and part to prevent a potential bump in sales for assault rifles in the period before lawmakers act.
About three dozen union members who work at a Remington Arms manufacturing plant in Herkimer County traveled to the Capitol on Monday, presenting lawmakers with a letter expressing concern that a full assault-weapons ban could put them out of work.
The Remington plant manufactures several types of rifles, including the Bushmaster .223-caliber model used in Newtown and Webster.
"We are asking you to not hinder the growth of our employer, the opportunity of growth in the Mohawk Valley with large and small businesses, and most importantly the jobs that support the survival of our membership and their families," the union, United Mine Workers of America Local 717, wrote.
Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee, D-Suffern in Rockland County, said a quick vote was prudent, saying she was concerned that a delay could lead to less stringent regulations.
"I'm concerned that the anti-gun-safety lobbyists would have influence in a way where we would lose the opportunity to move forward with gun safety," she said.
In his State of the State address last Wednesday, Cuomo called for the "toughest assault weapons ban in the nation" as well as limiting magazines to a capacity of seven bullets, down from the current 10.
"No one hunts with an assault rifle," Cuomo said. "No one needs 10 bullets to kill a deer. End the madness."
by joanro on 15 January 2013 - 10:01
by beetree on 15 January 2013 - 12:01
by joanro on 15 January 2013 - 13:01
by beetree on 15 January 2013 - 13:01
And knowing the words to some paper work needs adjustment, just doesn't scare me silly, like it does some.
by joanro on 15 January 2013 - 13:01
by Ruger1 on 15 January 2013 - 13:01
I don't believe that this country is the best place for people who don't believe in liberty.
and this,
"So he had a cumby mother, so do a lot of people. But MOST of the people who have been raised by lousy parents, worse than Lanza's, at least she fed him, don't commit murder. A lousy mother did not make him slaughter people."
....
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