Example Of Literature Review On Gun Access Or Mental Disorders To Blame For The Trend Of Mass Murders In American

How did they allow him to a buy? This is a question that has been asked by people after they learned that Aaron Alexis, the lone gunman and perpetrator of the Washington Navy Yard shooting, had been involved in two previous shootings, and that he had filed a police report in August in Rhode Island, claiming that he was hearing voices. The truth is that his name never showed up in FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System while he was buying the shotgun used in the shooting, and he was not criminally convicted for his previous gun incidents. He may have had mental issues, but they were not at a level that he be committed to a mental institution or be deemed “mentally defective” by a court. Though he was suffering from insomnia, he admitted that he was not depressed nor was he having thoughts of hurting himself or others.
Gun rights advocates promptly point out that Alexis’s ability to buy the shotgun would not have been stopped, regardless of the efforts that the Congress could have made to extend background checks. Instead, they turn mental health reporting as a means of supporting their argument that gun control is not the solution. However, the truth is that over half of Americans suffer from some mental illness or the other over the course of their lives, and over 20% of American adults experience an anxiety and/or mood disorder like depression every year. It might be true that an overwhelming number of Americans are suffering from mental illnesses, but most of them are absolutely not a danger to anyone. Unfortunately, it is highly disappointing and problematic to even think for a second that the American government might consider handpicking and cataloging harmless people who suffer from common mental illnesses based on the preconceived notion that might one day be a threat to someone.
Gun lobbyists, such as those in the NRA that Tim Dickinson refers to in his article “The NRA vs. America,” are well aware it is easier to blame gun violence and gun-related mass murders on “crazy” people than on individuals who have motives to commit such crimes and abundant access to deadly firearms. So it is not surprising that pursing gun control policies is fall behind to the idea of building a mental health database. The stunning fact, as Dickinson mentions in his article, is that, “the NRA receives funds directly from the sales of arms and ammunition” (Dickinson). The funds in question go as far as millions of dollars. So again it would not be surprising that gun lobbyists within an organization like the NRA would want to play the blame game and blame millions of harmless Americans than the abundance of guns that are available out there and they are making money from.
Dickinson also refers to NRA president Wayne LaPierre’s address to the nation eleven days after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Again, background checks and mental illnesses databases would not have prevented the incident that occurred. The “Frontline” special report “Raising Adam Lanza” that aired on PBS refers to how Adam Lanza, the gunman involved in the school shooting, suffered from several mental illnesses. The truth is that the 20-year old perpetrator was able to commit the crime with such ease since he was able to use his mother’s weapons that were in their house rather than buying new ones himself. The report states that Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome and Sensory Integration Disorder, both of which are not mental illnesses and the latter is not even officially recognized as a mental disorder. Regarding Lanza’s autism, even autism advocates had clearly stated that such predatory aggression is not a typical characteristic or symptom of autism.
Nate Rawlings’s article “Tat-us Quo” on TIME.com may not be relevant here, but the underlying meaning behind his statement that “the Army brass needs to focus on more pertinent issues like prevention of suicides and sexual assaults” should also send a message to the American government as well. This does not mean that FBI’s background check databases should not be improved or that there is not even a 1% chance that a person with a mental illness cannot commit a crime, gun-related or otherwise. The point is that gun lobbyists and organizations such as the NRA are placing the blame where it does not belong and the government is blindly taking the wrong approach toward ending gun violence. The government may as well go ahead and extend background check databases and label harmless American citizens as threats. However, as long as guns are being sold, someone somewhere will end up buying a gun and commit another mass murder.