I saw an ad for this petition on a liberal-left news site: “Gabby’s Law: Keep Guns Away From Dangerous People”. My stomach sunk… Of course it’s about mentally ill people being banned from buying guns. Not just about people in general buying guns, not idiots and wing-nuts buying guns, not alcoholics or drug addicts buying guns, not domestic abusers buying guns, not violent people buying guns and not about guns themselves being harmful in anyone’s hands when turned against others, but enacting a federal law to prevent anyone with a mental illness from purchasing a gun. Guns are WEAPONS after all so why are they available to the average Joe or Jane–or really to anyone anywhere–anyhow?
In fact, research shows mentally ill individuals are not more likely to be violent than so-called normal people, but are more like to be victimized than be a perpetrator of a violent crime. “It’s likely that some of the people in your local bar are at greater risk of committing murder than your average person with mental illness.” ~ Vaughn Bell, Crazy Talk: We’re too quick to use “mental illness” as an excuse for violence
See just a few related articles about the likelihood of violence in people with BPD & Schizophrenia–and the sensational information around the cases of individuals with mental illness who have been violent:
Ae the mentally ill more violent?
Are Bipolar Disorder People More Dangerous?
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