Discussion»Statements»Rosie's Corner» Trump blames mass murders/slaughters on mental illness. Not guns. So why did he sign a bill allowing mentally ill people to buy guns?
A very small percentage of violent crime is committed by those with mental illness. Mentally ill people are no more likely to commit a violent crime than anyone else. However, most gun crimes are committed by males. By your logic, no males should be permitted to own guns. I don't have an answer as to how to control gun crimes, but I DO know that stigmatizing those who have a mental illness needs to stop. It is discrimination, the same as sexism, ageism, and racism. The media perpetuates this myth and people like you who don't ever go beyond the headlines help spread this harmful misconception. I know you aren't likely to change your views, but maybe someone else who reads this might spend some time thinking about it.
This post was edited by Jane S at June 21, 2018 6:50 AM MDT
I think that you need to do some homework on what the exact ruling that Trump rescinded was all about. Broadly speaking, it affected only certain individuals that were receiving SS disabilities for a mental impairment that prevented them from handling their own finances and it no longer required their names to be reported to a federal database.
Most mentally ill people are not violent and have the same rights as any other citizen. There are other laws and reporting requirements, which include some forms of mental illness among other things, that apply to individuals who are prohibited form owning guns.
Trump is not qualified to judge whether the Las Vegas shooter was mentally ill nor should anyone assume that all persons diagnosed with a mental illness will all behave any certain way. Mental illness is a very broad term and it is time that all of us stopped discriminating against those who suffer from it, just as we do not discriminate against other illnesses.
It makes me wonder if people with poor vision or bad hearing, or a lack of motor control are kept from owning guns. That would make more sense.
Here are just a few of the headlines in regards to what you asked, and who wrote them.
The Hill: "House strikes down Obama era regulation that blocked gun sales to mentally ill.
CNN: "House votes to repeal Obama-era regulation concerning the sale of guns to people with severe mental illnesses."
NPR Politics: "House votes to overturn Obama rule restricting gun sales to mentally ill."
And I would imagine when you saw these headlines you probably thought, “Yup, that sounds like something Congress, Trump, and the Republicans would do." The thing is, has the House of Representatives really gotten rid of background checks? Are Republicans really intent upon putting firearms in the hands of the “severely mentally ill”? Is this really what you think? If it is, this is what happens when people read headlines and ignore the articles underneath.
To be fair, given the way the headlines are written, you could be forgiven for drawing those conclusions. But here’s the thing: None of them is true. Not at all. This was yet another episode of the circus act called "The Press Is Having another Breakdown." Contrary to the AP’s suggestion, the background check system remains in place. Contrary to The Hill’s implication, the rule change in question did not repeal the limitations on the “severely mentally ill.” None of that happened. Of course, as is customary with the fake news, the NRA was denounced, as was Paul Ryan, President Trump, and the United States in general.
Malizz 